Crypto Industry Reacts to Donald Trump’s Influence as SEC Task Force Meets with Trump-Affiliated Firms

The crypto market has been going through a volatile few months as Donald Trump was reelected and inaugurated. The Trump crypto policies have been positive and have helped to reduce the regulatory scrutiny on the crypto sector. The main force behind this change has been the changes made within the SEC to help the crypto industry. Continuing this trend, the SEC task force is now meeting with a crypto company that has supported Trump before. However, other financial policies deployed by Trump have directly or indirectly hurt crypto prices, and some notable figures are also criticizing such policies. 

Is Donald Trump Influencing SEC Crypto Policy?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force, which is directed by Hester Peirce, is continuing its meetings with crypto companies. These meetings are said to help in devising new regulatory changes and enhancements. The recent meeting was stated to be with Ondo Finance, which has donated $1 million to Donald Trump before. Because of Trump crypto stance, many crypto companies donated to his inauguration fund. The involvement of the  SEC with such companies and seemingly the special treatment for them might raise some eyebrows. 

In the recent meeting of the SEC crypto task force, the Trump-affiliated law firm Davis Polk and Wardwell was also present. This law firm had previously announced that it would be representing Truth Social, the President’s social media platform company, in the pursuit of opening crypto ETFs. Based on the official report, the meeting will be about “issuing and selling wrapped, tokenized versions of publicly traded US securities.” Ondo Finance requested this meeting to discuss registration requirements for tokenized securities. This meeting also involved compliance with financial laws and potentially launching a regulatory sandbox.

Is Trump’s SEC Protecting Crypto or Playing Favorites?

This meeting is the latest pro-crypto development, which started after Gary Gensler departed from the SEC. Under the new leadership of Trump crypto-friendly appointee Paul Atkins, the SEC is likely to continue this new approach. As such, today, the SEC crypto task force will also hold a roundtable with representatives from Kraken, Anchorage Digital Bank, and WisdomTree. This meeting will likely be about custody, as after the success of ETFs last year, now more companies have requested digital asset custody. 

The SEC has also announced that it will continue crypto cases involving fraudulent activity. Additionally, many cases against the companies that themselves or their executives donated to the Trump campaign have been dropped. This move has intensified the worries of the community about companies buying immunity. Some of these companies are three of the biggest crypto exchanges: Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken. There have also been complaints about Trump tariffs and their destructive effect on the market. 

Is Trump Confusing Crypto Traders?

Fred Krueger, who is a notable figure in the crypto world and a crypto advocate, has criticized Trump. He commented on the request changes to the Trump tariffs policy. He posted an X post in which he said, “Trump has lost a lot of credibility over the last two weeks.” The author of the Big Bitcoin Book published this comment regarding Donald Trump tariffs. This is because his on-and-off approach regarding this matter has created intense volatility in the global markets.

Trump has lost a lot of credibility over the last two weeks.

— Fred Krueger (@dotkrueger) April 24, 2025

On April 22, Trump stated, “The tariff on China will come down substantially.” However, today, a statement from the Commerce Ministry spokesman, He Yadong, stated that China has not participated in any trade negotiations. This statement has shown its influence on the crypto market, as the markets started to fall again after the April 22 surge. As such, many community members and market participants don’t believe that Trump’s statements hold merit. 

Is the Market Entering a Wait-and-See Phase

The Trump tariffs will continue after China denies any negotiations, and the market will likely continue its downtrend. There is also the possibility of consideration as the market participants take the wait-and-see approach. Although Donald Trump has been caught misleading the market many times, his words still hold immense strength. So investors should take this fact into consideration.