Author: China Times reporter Lu Mengxue

On November 23, local time, US President-elect Trump announced the nomination of Brooke Rollins as Minister of Agriculture. At this point, all candidates for Trump's new cabinet ministers have been confirmed. In addition, Trump has also nominated a number of high-level officials in the past few weeks.

Judging from the new list, in addition to names well-known in the crypto market such as Musk and Howard Lutnick, many cabinet officials are firm supporters of cryptocurrency and have disclosed their cryptocurrency holdings. These include the nominated Vice President, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Director of Intelligence, etc.

Since the U.S. election, Bitcoin has been on a meteoric rise, breaking through $99,000 on November 22, once approaching the $100,000 mark, and setting a new all-time high again.

Relevant analysts pointed out that factors such as increased friendly expectations, continued entry of funds, and the beginning of institutional layout will support the long-term development of the crypto market. The relatively friendly trend of the United States is also encouraging Hong Kong and other regions to further relax virtual assets.

The United States Cabinet consists of the president, vice president, ministers and other members designated by the president. With Trump announcing the nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, the positions of the new Trump Vice President and 15 Cabinet secretaries have been confirmed.

Due to Trump’s relevant promises during the campaign, members of his new team have attracted much attention from the encryption market. The reporter noticed that among Trump’s nominees, more than five officials hold a cryptocurrency-friendly attitude and have announced cryptocurrency holdings.

Among them, J.D. Vance, Trump’s nominee for vice president, often publicly expresses his support for cryptocurrency. He once disclosed that as of 2022, he owned a total of Bitcoin worth US$100,001 to US$250,000. In 2022, when serving as the Ohio U.S. Senator, Vance advocated for more relaxed regulation of digital assets. In 2023, Vance also proposed a bill aimed at protecting cryptocurrency companies from regulatory pressure from banks, advocating for more neutral supervision.

Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, was once a key member of the Soros team and is known for his pro-cryptocurrency stance. He once said in an interview: "I am very excited about (Trump) embracing cryptocurrency. I think this is very consistent with the spirit of the Republican Party. Cryptocurrency represents freedom, and the crypto economy will exist for a long time."

Michael Waltz, Trump’s nominated security adviser, once disclosed that he owns $50,000 to $100,000 in Bitcoin in 2023. He has been pushing for pro-cryptocurrencies and has made several important statements on cryptocurrencies, including voting for the very crypto-currency bill FIT21, voting for the pro-cryptocurrency bill SAB 121 House JointResolutions etc.

Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, was appointed by Trump as the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce on November 20. Howard's attitude towards cryptocurrency is also quite positive. He once revealed: "I own hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, and I expect this number will soon reach billions."

And his Cantor Fitzgerald also conducts a number of cryptocurrency-related businesses and has been the custodian of Tether since late 2021. Recently, it was reported that Howard is exploring strengthening financial ties with Tether and plans to launch a US$2 billion project to provide US dollar loans to customers using Bitcoin as collateral.

Nominated Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr is also a well-known Bitcoin supporter. He said in November: "I am a strong supporter of Bitcoin and I attended another Bitcoin conference a year ago. Most of my wealth is in Bitcoin, so I am fully committed to it."< /p>

The nominated intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard also disclosed that in the second half of 2017, he held Litecoin between US$1,000 and US$15,000 and Ethereum between US$1,000 and US$15,000.

In addition, Pete Hegseth, who Trump will nominate as Secretary of Defense of the United States, has also stated that he insists on the value of Bitcoin decentralization and promised not to sell Bitcoin.

In addition to cabinet ministers, Musk, who is scheduled to lead the "Efficiency Department", is also a "trendsetter" in the cryptocurrency market. As of November 21, Arkham statistics show that Tesla holds 11,509 BTC. Valued at approximately US$1.11 billion.

Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz recently said that Trump has brought about a “paradigm shift” in cryptocurrency regulation. He pointed out that almost all Trump cabinet members hold Bitcoin and are supporters of digital assets. They generally support innovation, digital assets and the development of Bitcoin.

In the early morning of November 22, Bitcoin exceeded US$99,000, setting a new all-time high again. Subsequently, the price of the currency fell sharply, falling to a low of US$90,800 in the early morning of November 27, and then rebounded. As of press time, Bitcoin was trading at US$93,474.51.

Since the U.S. election, the price of Bitcoin has increased from US$70,000 to nearly US$100,000. After Trump won the election, the price of Bitcoin exceeded 30%, driving the overall cryptocurrency market. The market value increased by more than 800 billion US dollars.

Previously, regulatory forces represented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented strict regulations on cryptocurrency. Numbers disclosed by the SECAccording to reports, the agency launched 46 law enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency field in 2023, an increase of 53% from 2022. As of the end of 2023, the total fines against crypto market participants were approximately $2.89 billion, of which $281 million came from settlements reached that year.

Recently, according to media reports, Trump hopes to expand the power of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and grant it the power to regulate a large part of the digital asset market. The market believes that this move is aimed at weakening some of the SEC’s regulatory powers over the digital asset industry.

Livio Weng, CEO of HashKey Exchange, a Hong Kong-compliant cryptocurrency exchange, said in an interview with a reporter from China Times that he is optimistic and cautious about the overall development of the cryptocurrency market. After Trump takes office, he will Gradually fulfilling its campaign promises, these measures will create a more favorable market environment for Bitcoin and expand its upside potential.

“At present, it seems that Bitcoin still needs to rest and accumulate strength before breaking through 100,000 US dollars.” Livio Weng said that this round of Bitcoin’s rise, in addition to Trump’s victory and the expectation of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, The more direct reason for the impact is that MicroStrategy has increased its holdings of Bitcoin on a large scale. It has made purchases of US$10 billion in two weeks, which has also triggered a wave of currency hoarding by more listed companies. "Specifically, Factors such as the strengthening of friendly expectations, the continued entry of funds, and the beginning of institutional layout will support the long-term development of the market." Livio Weng also mentioned that the relatively friendly trend of the United States is also encouraging Hong Kong and other countries. The region further relaxes virtual assets in order to become a hub for the development of the global Web3 industry. "We are concerned that many applications in Hong Kong have been approved at an accelerated pace recently."