FRANCE – 2025/01/20: In this photo illustration, Trump Meme , Trump the Crypto president, is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Romain Doucelin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Romain Doucelin | Getty Images
Cryptocurrency firm bosses are optimistic about the changes of comprehensive federal rules for the industry passing this year now that Donald Trump, who is a backer of bitcoin, returned to the White House.
The CEOs of Coinbase, Binance and Circle told CNBC they now see a clearer path toward securing some concrete rules on digital assets — unlike the previous U.S. administration, which took aggressive enforcement action against several major crypto companies.
Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong said that he sees crypto entering the “dawn of a new day” with a Trump-led U.S. administration.
“You have to remember: the last four years, we really felt like we were being attacked by this administration,” Armstrong told CNBC in a TV interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual event in Davos, Switzerland.
“They tried to weaponize the lack of clarity in the rules to really push back, even on the good actors,” Armstrong added. “There were some bad actors too, to be fair — but they even really tried to go after the good actors, I think, like us.”
Coinbase is the biggest crypto trading platform in the U.S. The firm often touts itself as a regulated alternative to offshore exchanges, like Binance.
Regulatory clarity to boost sector
On Tuesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the launch of a “crypto task force” aimed at “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
The SEC panel will be tasked with developing a clear set of rules for the crypto sector, while also addressing issues regarding registration of coins, according to a statement from the agency.
Coinbase’s Armstrong said the current main priority for crypto as an industry is working to get legislation passed in the U.S. to offer clarity.
“The industry is just ready for this new change,” he told CNBC. “They’re ready for clear rules. And that’s our big push.”
Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, highlighted token issuance, trading and asset management as some of the key things he’s expecting to see progress on in terms of crypto-specific legislation in the U.S.
Teng said he sees “much clearer regulation” happening in the U.S. this year — and that this would be supportive for bitcoin and other digital assets.
“If you look at past cycles, this year will be a year that we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng said in a CNBC-hosted fireside discussion in Davos, Switzerland.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, passed the $100,000 price milestone for the first time last year, as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under a Trump administration.
As of Wednesday, the token was trading at a price of about $104,000, according to CoinGecko data.
U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve
Binance’s Teng is also expecting the U.S. to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve — something Trump suggested he’d do during his campaign.
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, said he believes “it would be prudent for central banks to hold some reserves in something like bitcoin,” adding this could cause a return to commodity-backed money.
“If we look back when we decoupled from non-sovereign commodity money, we really saw around the world incredible abuses through fiat and that goes on,” Allaire said. “The vast majority of governments in the world are significantly in debt.”
“It’s taken kind of open heart surgery, shock therapy, in a place like Argentina to get out of this vicious cycle. And I respect that this is a important topic for the U.S. government now,” he added.
Trump has previously suggested that a U.S. national bitcoin reserve could be underpinned by crypto assets seized from criminal operations, such as hackers and fraud rings.
Stablecoin laws expected
Along with a pro-crypto president, the U.S. now also has senators and representatives who are supportive of the technology and want to put regulation in place — something that’s “absolutely appropriate,” Allaire stressed.
Allaire noted there are already “American champions” in the crypto space such as Circle, Coinbase and blockchain platform Solana. “I think under this new administration, we’ll see very likely rapid progress in rule making and policy making to advance this industry,” he said.
Circle’s CEO sees the U.S. advancing legislation particularly around so-called stablecoins — digital tokens designed to be pegged to real-world assets like the dollar — given that there’s already bipartisan support in Congress for such tokens. Circle is behind USDC, which is one of the largest stablecoins.
The Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, a bill that seeks to establish a regulatory regime to license issuers of stablecoins, was working its way through Congress before last year’s election. It has yet to pass a House vote.
Check out the companies making headlines after the bell : Zoom Communications — The video conferencing company saw shares rising about 1% in extended trading after the firm shared its annual revenue forecast. The company now sees fiscal 2026 revenue between $4.80 billion and $4.81 billion, compared to analyst expectation of $4.79 billion, according to FactSet. Zoom also posted higher-than-expected adjusted earnings for the last quarter. Snowflake — The cloud-based data storage company’s stock surged more than 6% in after-hours trading after the company reported a solid first quarter. Adjusted earnings of 24 cents per share beat an LSEG estimate of 21 cents per share. Guidance for its second-quarter product revenue also topped Street expectations. Urban Outfitters — The apparel retailer saw shares soaring more than 9% in extended trading following a stronger-than-expected quarterly report. The firm posted an EPS of $1.16, beating a Street estimate of 84 cents, per LSEG. Revenue of $1.33 billion also came in higher than an estimate of $1.29 billion. Lumen Technologies – Shares of the communications company surged 15% after AT & T agreed to acquire substantially all of Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber internet connectivity business. The $5.75 billion deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026. AT & T shares were little changed.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Target — The big-box retailer fell 4% on disappointing first-quarter results . Target also cut its full-year sales outlook, partly blaming falling consumer sentiment and uncertainty about tariffs. Toll Brothers — The stock added 2.8% after the homebuilder beat on both the top and bottom lines for its second quarter. Earnings came in at $3.50 per share, topping the $2.83 a share expected from analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue was $2.74 billion, versus the $2.48 billion consensus estimate. Palo Alto Networks — The cybersecurity company tumbled 5% after posting a gross margin for the third fiscal quarter that was lower than expected. That overshadowed an better-than-anticipated earnings report on both lines for the quarter. Canada Goose — The luxury jacket maker soared 28% after posting a better earnings report for the fiscal fourth quarter than analysts penciled in. However, the company said it would not provide an outlook for the fiscal 2026 year due to uncertainty tied to consumer spending and the global trade backdrop. UnitedHealth — Shares fell 4.4% following HSBC’s downgrade of the health insurer. HSBC said the stock could see more downside even after the recent sell-off. UnitedHealth shares have plunged nearly 39% this year. Crypto stocks — Some stocks tied to digital currencies rose as bitcoin rallied to a new all-time high . Coinbase gained 2%, while Mara Holdings popped more than 4%. Carter’s — Shares sank 10% after the children’s clothing company announced it would slash its quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share from 80 cents per share. The company also said that higher tariffs could push up product costs. Xpeng — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese electric vehicle maker surged 11.2% after the company recorded a s maller loss for the first quarter than anticipated. Xpeng said it plans to deliver between 102,000 and 108,000 vehicles in the current quarter, which would mark a year-over-year rise of more than 200%. Take-Two Interactive — Shares slid 3.4% after the video game maker announced a proposed offering of $1 billion in common stock. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are the lead bookrunning managers for the potential offering. Keysight Technologies — The commercial electronics stock jumped 4% after results for the fiscal second quarter topped expectations. Keysight reported $1.70 in adjusted earnings per share on $1.31 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting $1.65 per share and $1.28 billion. Both of the company’s major reporting segments saw year over year revenue growth. Modine Manufacturing — Shares dropped 8.1% despite a better-than-projected report for the fourth fiscal quarter. The manufacturer earned $1.12 per share, excluding items, while analysts polled by FactSet anticipated 96 cents a share. Revenue came in at $647.2 million, also exceeding the Street’s consensus forecast of $631.5 million. — CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Yun Li and Michelle Fox contributed reporting
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Palo Alto Networks — Shares of the cybersecurity company dipped 3.7% after Palo Alto Network’s gross margin for the fiscal third quarter came out below estimates . The company still beat on earnings and revenue expectations, however. UnitedHealth — Shares dropped more than 6% after HSBC downgraded the health insurance giant, saying valuations are still elevated despite a recent rout. Target — The retailer’s stock slipped 3.5% after Target missed first-quarter revenue estimates and cut its full-year sales outlook. Executives blamed tariff uncertainty, weaker discretionary spending and backlash to the company’s rollback of key diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for its performance. Lowe’s — Shares of the home improvement retailer rose 2%. Lowe’s reaffirmed its full-year forecast , putting the retailer on track for year-over-year sales growth. Lowe’s also reported earnings of $2.92 per share, beating an LSEG estimate of $2.88 per share. Revenue of $20.93 billion came out just shy of the $20.94 billion expected. Toll Brothers — The homebuilder rose more than 4% after fiscal second-quarter results topped expectations. Toll Brothers reported $3.50 in earnings per share on $2.74 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for $2.83 per share in earnings and $2.48 billion in revenue. Carter’s — Shares of the children’s clothing company slid about 6% after Carters cut its quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share, down from 80 cents per share. The company’s chief executive said in a release that Carter’s dividend was misaligned with its level of profitability against the current market environment, and that higher tariffs could lead Carter’s to incur significantly higher product costs. Wolfspeed — Shares of the semiconductor supplier plunged more than 60% after The Wall Street Journal reported , citing sources familiar with the matter that Wolfspeed is preparing to file for bankruptcy within weeks. Xpeng — The Chinese EV maker rose than 5% in the premarket after a smaller-than-expected loss for the first quarter . Xpeng added it expects to deliver between 102,000 and 108,000 vehicles in the second quarter. That represents a year-over-year increase of more than 200%. — CNBC’s Sarah Min and Jesse Pound contributed reporting.