(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin and the wider crypto market held gains sparked by the launch of a Securities and Exchange Commission task force on US digital-asset regulations, part of President Donald Trump’s wider embrace of the sector.
Industry participants have long cited regulatory clarity as one of their top priorities under the second Trump administration. Advocates anticipate a friendly regime that can boost interest and investment in digital assets.
Bitcoin traded at about $106,000 as of 7:20 a.m. Wednesday in Singapore, in sight of the record high $109,241 set on Monday ahead of Trump’s inauguration. The rest of the crypto market was mixed, with the likes of Ether and Solana trading in tight ranges at the start of the Asian session.
The task force will aim to come up with a “comprehensive and clear” regulatory framework, according to the SEC. It will be led by Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the agency who has been nicknamed “Crypto Mom” for her dissents against SEC enforcement actions on crypto businesses.
An SEC approach of regulation by engagement can enable “the crypto industry to innovate with clear guardrails” and “catalyze a sweeping shift from electronic to digital markets,” said Aaron Kaplan, co-chief executive officer of Prometheum Inc.
Trump and his wife Melania unveiled memecoins — highly volatile tokens with no underlying assets to back up their value and no obvious practical purpose — ahead of the president’s swearing in.
The Trump coin rose to a market capitalization of as much as $15 billion, but has now fallen to roughly $9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. The Melania coin has lost over half it’s market capitalization, which now sits at around $800 million.
Trump is expected to usher in a more friendly regulatory environment for crypto and issue an executive order designating the sector a national priority. Some in the industry are also hopeful Trump will establish a US Bitcoin reserve.
The president used to be a crypto skeptic but pivoted as the sector poured huge sums into campaign coffers during the build-up to the US election. He now plans to turn the nation into the linchpin of the global digital-asset industry.
--With assistance from Muyao Shen and Ryan Weeks.
