With Donald Trump tapping top regulators with cryptocurrency ties and promising to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”, the controversial and scandal-plagued industry is poised for laxer oversight and faster growth, which ethics watchdogs and ex-prosecutors fear could pose dangers for investors and spur potential criminal abuses.
The president’s pro-crypto stances have come as he wooed crypto companies to ratchet up their campaign contributions to help him win the White House. Although in 2021 Trump called bitcoin a “scam”, he also announced last fall that he and his sons were helping launch a new crypto business, dubbed World Liberty Financial, they can profit from.
