Trump's rapid evolution, from cautious critic to full-throated crypto evangelist, marks a sharp departure from the Biden administration's crackdown era

The shift has been dramatic. Under former President Joe Biden, the Securities and Exchange Commission leaned into aggressive enforcement without regulatory clarity.

The shift has been dramatic.

After former President Joe Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission went hard on enforcement without regulatory clarity, Trump is pivoting toward pragmatism — fewer blanket accusations, more targeted fraud actions, and a clearer willingness to work with industry.

“Chairman Gensler never met a crypto he didn’t think was a security,” said Michael Lowe, a partner at Troutman Pepper Locke and former federal prosecutor. “Biden’s SEC had no interest in guidance — it was all about enforcement.”

That enforcement-first era ended in January. Trump replaced Gensler’s regime with one focused on clarity, not punishment.

Eric Schiffer, chairman of the Los Angeles-based private equity firm Patriarch Organization, among other firms, compared the Gensler era to “tanks on the lawn” of the industry.

“Yesterday, the SEC parked tanks on crypto’s lawn; today, it’s handing out lemonade and term-sheet brochures. We’ve gone from catapults over the moat to guided castle tours,” Schiffer said.

After the recent confirmation of SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, he launched a Crypto Task Force to develop a framework that distinguishes between securities and commodities — a critical dividing line in how digital assets are regulated.

“There hasn’t really been any kind of approach up until now to really get some guidance on what digital asset specifically is a security and what digital asset specifically is a commodity,” Lowe said.

Lowe noted that if a digital asset is classified as a commodity, then it is regulated under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. And if it’s a security, that will fall under the SEC.

“So right now, the Trump administration is actually interested in providing that guidance,” Lowe said.

In April, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a directive pausing prosecutions based on unsettled legal theories around crypto. The memo declared the DOJ would defer to federal agencies to set rules — and only enforce those rules once defined.

“The Justice Department will no longer pursue litigation or enforcement actions that have the effect of imposing regulatory frameworks on digital assets while President Trump’s actual regulators do this work outside the punitive criminal justice framework,” according to the text of the memo.

Lowe, a former fraud prosecutor, said he “was involved in crypto fraud prosecutions, and really, what I found was that most crypto fraud prosecutions are really just fraud prosecutions.”

Last week, the administration demonstrated it is still taking crypto fraud seriously in a prosecution announced by recently installed acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.

On Friday, Pirro announced the federal seizure of more than $800,000 in alleged proceeds of a “Cryptocurrency Confidence Scheme” in which criminals allegedly contacted victims through seemingly “misdirected text messages,” dating apps, or professional meetups and investment groups. She also said the United States recovered nearly $2.5 million in cryptocurrency involved in “fraudulent confidence schemes.”

“Whether they are in our district’s street or hiding behind a computer screen abroad, the United States will continue to hold fraudsters and grifters responsible, seize money they scam from hardworking Americans, and use our authority to compensate victims,” Pirro said.

Congress is now stepping in with bipartisan momentum.

Lawmakers in both chambers are advancing bills such as the GENIUS Act and the STABLE Act, aimed at defining stablecoins and clarifying disclosure rules. A broader market structure bill, backed by House Republicans, proposes a classification system for all digital assets.

The speed of Trump’s transformation has surprised some observers — but not those closest to him. In early 2024, crypto fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago and Silicon Valley began drawing in major donors and attention. Soon after, Trump spoke at a major industry conference in Nashville, pledging to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet.”

Since then, crypto has become part of the Trump brand. His administration has launched a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, banned federal development of a central bank digital currency, and has even partaken in digital trading cards reminiscent of the NFT craze while launching his own $TRUMP meme token on the Solana blockchain just before retaking the Oval Office.

His Cabinet is also stacked with members who are equally as supportive of the digital market. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy even admitted in 2023, “I’m bullish on bitcoin. I don’t have faith in the dollar.”

Still, Trump’s crypto good will has drawn criticism. A private dinner earlier this week for top investors in the $TRUMP meme coin is being scrutinized by ethics watchdogs.

Though the coin is traded openly and does not directly fund Trump due to his children managing his assets, critics raised concerns over the foreign presence at the gathering, especially with the presence of billionaire Justin Sun, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Tron.

“Anyone who was worried about a president’s son selling art should be able to see the ethics concerns of foreign interests donating through a