By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) – A number of crypto companies, including Ripple, Kraken and Circle, are vying for a seat on President-elect Donald Trump’s promised crypto advisory board, which several digital asset industry leaders say they want to say about his planned overhaul of U.S. policy.
On the campaign trail at a bitcoin conference in Nashville in July, Trump promised new advice as part of a crypto-friendly message. Its transition team is discussing how to structure and staff it and which companies should be included, the people said.
Several top American crypto companies are clamoring for seats at the table. Among them is venture capital firm Paradigm, one source said, with venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz a16z also expected to win a seat.
“It’s being determined, but I expect top executives from US bitcoin and crypto firms to be represented,” said David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, which arranged for Trump to speak at the July conference and speak to the president-elect. bitcoin policy.
“People are willing to give advice and give information,” Bailey said.
A spokesperson for Kraken declined to comment, while a spokesperson for a16z did not respond to requests for comment.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently met with Trump, a source familiar with the matter said, confirming Monday’s Wall Street Journal report. It was not clear what they were discussing. The source added that Coinbase, the largest American crypto exchange, was also interested in being in the line.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told the New York Times this month that he wanted to be on the board, a company spokesman noted.
The cryptocurrency council will likely sit under the White House’s National Economic Council, which coordinates and implements the president’s economic policy, or under a separate White House office, two of the people said.
He is expected to advise on digital asset policy, work with Congress on crypto legislation, establish Trump’s promised bitcoin reserve and coordinate among agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Treasury Department, they said together. with other executives. Law enforcement officials and former politicians may also be on the board, one of the sources said.
Trump’s transition team, which did not respond to a request for comment, is also discussing creating a “czar” role, two sources said. One added that the Tsar would probably lead the council. Trump’s team is vetting candidates for the role, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.