(NewsNation) — President-elect Donald Trump is considering adding a new position to his administration: the nation’s first-ever “crypto czar.”
The role would oversee cryptocurrency policy and regulation and act as a liaison between Congress and the White House. Trump’s top team is meeting with bitcoin and crypto experts to discuss the role.
Trump has several crypto businesses himself and, during his campaign, had promised to make the United States the crypto capital of the world by creating a bitcoin strategic reserve.
The idea is in its early stages. Bloomberg reports that many of the conversations are in their initial processes, and there are still discussions about whether the role would be a specific White House administrative role or more of a “czar” position, which is more colloquial for someone being a point person to spearhead a certain topic.
What’s clear is that Trump has spoken very positively about the issue of cryptocurrency on the campaign trail and even gave remarks at a bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, this summer.
“If crypto is going to define the future, I want to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” Trump said. “It’s not going to be made anywhere else. Bitcoin is going to the moon, as we say. It’s going to the moon. I want America to be the nation that leads the way, and that’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to be very happy with me.”
The price of bitcoin in just the past month has skyrocketed since the election. That’s largely because there are a lot of cryptocurrency investors who remain optimistic that this administration will be favorable to bitcoin and to cryptocurrency in the future.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow from Michigan has been trying to push cryptocurrency legislation since this summer and has encountered some roadblocks — both from within her own party as well as from across the aisle.
She’s looking for ways to offer regulations and consumer protections, trying to make a push, according to Politico, before the new session comes into effect and Republicans take the majority in the Senate.