Is Crypto Ready for Some U.S. Regulation?
The crypto degens would probably prefer no regulation at all
By all appearances, 2025 is shaping up to be a banner year for crypto. A brand-new Trump administration has many wild-eyed on cryptocurrency prospects. Mr. T, Elon and Ramaswamycoin have enthusiasts pumped about what’s ahead. And Trump has made a crypto about-face with the fresh cast characters surrounding him.
During his previous administration, Trump was not a cryptocurrency fan. This was made crystal clear in his 2019 thread regarding bitcoin. But by all appearances, the stage does seem to be set for there to be a better future for crypto ahead. This compared to Biden's wishy-wash policy by enforcement.
Now there is literal foaming at the mouth by some over potential blockchain regulation. The majority of 2025’s Congress is expected to be favorable to cryptocurrency. At least 300 of the 535-member incoming class are crypto complimentary, according to CoinDesk. Because of this, there seems to be a lot of echoing that positive crypto regulation is coming.
Source: Public Citizen
Is it really? Getting something made into U.S. law is not easy. But there could be motivation in the form of eye-watering corporate crypto campaign donation amounts. That's what $119.2M for the 2024 cycle can do!
Yet sound regulation is likley a taller task than many realize. The Republican majority in Congress’s House is very slim. This is assuming no Democrats go for a potential crypto bill. In that case, it would take every Republican to pass any bill in the House given its razor-thin majority.
How many realize the difficulty to get a bill to passed in order to make something a law? A great example of this is the “I’m Just a Bill” video from Schoolhouse Rock.
Bills die all the time, then have to go back for a vote, on and on... Consider all the the government shutdown turmoil just prior to Christmas. How much of an appetite will lawmakers have to pass crypto regulation? What would those regulations even look like?
Stablecoin regulation is something banks are desperately looking to get passed. This is due to the immense profits stablecoin issuers like Tether have reaped over the years. It might be more palatable to simply pass something in a line-item to allow banks to hold crypto. There’s a start.
Meanwhile, apeasing the degens could prove challenging. The out-of-nowhere December IRS rule for DeFi to verify users is already unpopular. Figuring out how to regulate people YOLO’ing memecoins on pump.fun might be a taller task.
In fact, some crypto degenerates would probably prefer no regulation at all :)
