President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing the Federal Reserve and other regulators to dismantle long-standing barriers that have excluded crypto and fintech firms from the US payment system, the Fed, and the broader banking ecosystem. The order asks the Fed to review how uninsured depository institutions and non-bank financial firms can obtain payment accounts and services — a structural break in the years-long standoff between the crypto industry and US banking access.
Why it matters
The move lands alongside accelerating legislative work on a permanent framework. Senator Cynthia Lummis said the Clarity Act — combining the Senate Banking Committee's bill, the Ag Committee's CFTC-focused bill, and technical updates to the GENIUS Act — is being prepared for a Senate floor vote this summer, ahead of the midterms. "If we don't create a clear regulatory framework, we're going to lose out to Dubai, to Singapore," Lummis said. Perianne Boring, founder of the Digital Chamber, framed the shift as bigger than finance: she pointed to congressional testimony that the US Navy is using Bitcoin's encryption architecture to protect military data, calling blockchain "critical technology" for securing any asset or dataset — from financial transactions to healthcare records.
White House crypto executive director Patrick Witt told the Bitcoin Conference that a strategic Bitcoin reserve announcement is "imminent," within a window he previously set. He described the work as "getting everything in place, legally sound, properly safeguarding the assets" — a reference to the executive order signed earlier this year and to the recent theft of tier-2 assets from US Marshals custody, which Witt called "a great proof point" that the assets must be safeguarded as unique holdings.
Market impact
Bitcoin traded around $76,000, Ethereum near $2,100, Solana around $85, and Dogecoin near $0.10 on the day. Morgan Stanley filed an amended Solana ETF application — adding to its existing BTC and ETH products — while Indian banks are reportedly using the XRP Ledger for interbank and cross-border settlement, including in CBDC advisory work with smaller nations. Macro analyst Psychedelic noted Bitcoin is 105 days past its cycle one-week RSI low, only the fourth time in history that signal has triggered; the only prior instance where BTC made new lows after 105 days was 2022, when FTX collapsed — an outlier driven by a black-swan event rather than organic cycle dynamics.
Frequently asked questions
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What does Trump's crypto executive order actually do?
It directs the Federal Reserve and other regulators to review how uninsured depository institutions and non-bank financial firms — including crypto and fintech companies — can obtain access to payment accounts and services, dismantling long-standing barriers that kept them out of the US banking system.
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What is the Clarity Act and when will it be voted on?
The Clarity Act is a market-structure bill combining the Senate Banking Committee's legislation, the Ag Committee's CFTC-focused bill, and technical updates to the GENIUS Act. Senator Lummis said the combined bill is being prepared for a Senate floor vote this summer, ahead of the midterms.
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Is the strategic Bitcoin reserve actually being created?
White House crypto executive director Patrick Witt said an announcement is "imminent" — within the window he previously set at the Bitcoin Conference — and described the work as getting everything "legally sound" and "properly safeguarding the assets," though he said the team is still in the "announcement of an…
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Why does the US Navy using Bitcoin's encryption matter?
Perianne Boring of the Digital Chamber said congressional testimony confirmed the US Navy is using Bitcoin's encryption to protect military data — framing blockchain as critical infrastructure beyond finance, with applications for healthcare data, personal identifiable information, and other asset classes.
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How are institutions positioning around this regulatory shift?
Morgan Stanley filed an amended spot Solana ETF application on top of its existing BTC and ETH products, and Indian banks are reportedly using the XRP Ledger for interbank and cross-border settlement — suggesting institutional crypto access is expanding on both sides of the Atlantic alongside the US policy shift.
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