US President Trump Directs SEC Task Force to Outline Crypto Rules by August 

US President Donald Trump met with several crypto founders and leaders during the recent Crypto Summit held at the White House. The event brought US lawmakers under one roof with the crypto industry for the first time. At the summit, President Trump asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Crypto Task Force to put the country's crypto and stablecoins regulations “on his desk” by the end of August this year. This gives the task force approximately five months to complete the research and proposal work for crypto rules.

Chris Dixon, a managing partner at Web3-focussed investment firm a16z crypto, said Trump's timeline for a crypto regulatory framework was the most important announcement during the summit.

Lauding Trump's proactive regulatory approach, Dixon said, “With accelerating progress in crypto, AI, and other frontier domains, this is the time to craft thoughtful, comprehensive policies that acknowledge both the promise and risks of these technologies.”

White House crypto czar David Sacks and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent co-chaired the summit alongside Trump. Addressing the invitees, Bessent said the US intended to keep the dollar as the dominant reserve currency in the world, for which it intends to put stablecoins to use.

In another noteworthy development, US' banking regulator said that banks were allowed to engage in selected crypto-related services, overturning years of restrictions. US' Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has reportedly allowed banks to explore crypto-asset custody, blockchain participation, as well as exploring stablecoins use cases.

Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder of Chainlink, was among attendees of the event in Washington DC. “Having the most senior members of the cabinet that cover these topics, says a lot about the US's newfound commitment to cryptocurrencies, blockchains and its own evolution as a financial system,” he said in a post on X. Nazarov added that the Trump administration had vouched cooperation with the industry.

Owing to the awaited regulatory development, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he was set to open a thousand job opportunities in Web3 this year. Following the summit, Armstrong posted a video on X saying that Coinbase planned to hire about 1,000 employees in the US in 2025 as a result of the “renewed growth”.

Prior to the Crypto Summit, Trump ordered the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve as well as a crypto stockpile in the US. His executive order said Bitcoin and altcoins seized by federal agencies during investigations will be put into these reserves as long-term holdings.

Despite the success of Trump's crypto summit, the market continued to bleed on Monday. While Bitcoin was trading at $82,680 (roughly Rs. 72 lakh) on international exchanges, the crypto sector valuation receded to $2.7 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,35,48,050 crore) over the last 24 hours.

Market analysts believe that in the coming days, with more regulatory development, the digital assets sector will gradually touch new highs. Meanwhile, the market remains extremely volatile, and investors have been instructed to exercise caution in their decisions.