After ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, Donald Trump, the United States president-elect and famous felon, announced that he “will be doing something great with crypto.”

This was in response to a question from Jim Cramer that seemed to allude to a “strategic bitcoin reserve.” Trump has previously promised to create a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile.”

Elsewhere yesterday, World Liberty Financial, a crypto project endorsed by Trump that describes him as the “Chief Crypto Advocate,” has been diversifying the assets in its multisignature wallet, apparently exchanging USDC for ether, LINK, and AAVE.

The protocol itself intends to exist as an AAVE wrapper and it has already partnered with Chainlink.

Read more: Justin Sun buys more of Trump’s WLFI than it planned to sell

Interestingly, this change in the composition of the multisignature wallet was not discussed on the governance forum and was not voted on by tokenholders. This token was explicitly marketed as a “governance token.”

The firm has sold approximately 4.45 billion tokens, with nearly half of them going to Justin Sun, a crypto entrepreneur and the target of a SEC lawsuit that alleges he participated in unlawful promotion of securities and price manipulation.

Additionally, over 22 billion tokens — that’s five times the number that has been sold to the public — went to a Trump-affiliated firm. 

This firm also receives 75% of protocol revenue, despite the fact that Trump and his children are very explicitly not directors or employees of this firm.

Trump’s wife Melania, another cryptocurrency entrepreneur whose team has been accused of wash-trading her NFT collection, rang the NYSE bell several years ago.

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On Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. asked for America’s help in identifying the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. After posting just two photos of the suspect, at-home sleuths sprung to action.

Don Jr.’s screenshot quickly led to false accusations that, based on mere resemblance and a fabricated tweet, crypto influencer Gainzy could have been the shooter. 

Failing to cite the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers program or WANTED notice, Don Jr. simply encouraged random allegations against a variety of innocent individuals. Free to use AI, Photoshop, and all manner of doctored media created earned engagement on social media and civilians joined the finger-pointing spree.

The algorithm duly rewarded them for their efforts.

Gainzy looks kind of like the guy… that was enough?

Commenters posted dozens of low-effort accusations that fell flat on their face. Soon, however, one savvy X user, 0xRacist, went a step further, fabricating a clever s***post that has earned nearly 6 million impressions.

0xRacist fingered Gainzy — a popular crypto trader who was in Tel Aviv at the time of Thompson’s assassination — as the shooter. The made-at-home allegation featured a side-by-side photo of Crime Stoppers camera footage and a social media image of Gainzy who bears a slight, imperfect resemblance to the suspect.

Read more: Crypto security firms more concerned with social media clout than the details

Many were fooled. Inversebrah memorialized the event. Intelligent members of the crypto community laughed at how easy it is to farm engagement from X using false information.

Some crypto celebrities like Laura Shin and Udi Wertheimer considered the allegation so obviously false that they played along for fun, given that Gainzy was on the other side of the world during the incident.

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President-elect Donald Trump has picked Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Once Gensler resigns effective January 20, many anticipate an abrupt change within the world’s most powerful and well-staffed securities regulator.

What should the crypto community expect to see under Atkins’ leadership, assuming he accepts Trump’s nomination?

For starters, the man has previous experience at the SEC — so he can skip orientation and get right to business. Atkins worked on SEC staff from 1990 to 1994. Years later, he earned a promotion to one of the SEC’s five Commissioner seats and served from August 2002 to August 2008.

Outside the SEC, Atkins has also worked in Big Law for the prestigious Davis Polk & Wardwell, assisting corporations with mergers, acquisitions, and securities offerings. Atkins also helped with compliance and regulatory investigations.

Read more: Gary Gensler and SEC probed over alleged politically-biased hiring

Goodbye Gary Gensler, hello Paul Atkins

The incoming SEC chair has libertarian, pro-crypto stances on regulation. Atkins co-chaired the Token Alliance, an altcoin-friendly division of the Digital Chamber of Commerce involved in political communications. He also founded Potomak Global Partners, an advisory for digital finance companies.

Paul Atkins’ previous experience as an attorney includes a stint working in white collar disaster clean-up. The Bennett Funding Group was a billion-dollar leasing corporation that conducted one of the largest Ponzi schemes in US history. After it imploded, Atkins assisted the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee by overtaking Bennett’s sole surviving subsidiary as crisis president. There, Atkins was able to stabilize the subsidiary’s finances.

As a pro-crypto and libertarian-minded lawyer with decades of experience in Washington DC, Trump’s selection of Paul Atkins could boost hopes that the new White House administration will be friendlier toward digital assets.

Outgoing chair Gary Gensler made himself the enemy of the digital asset industry through regulation by enforcement, failing to prevent the FTX fiasco, and years of failing to name which crypto assets are and are not securities.

Despite being Trump’s current top pick for SEC leadership, reports indicate that Atkins has not yet accepted the appointment.

If Atkins declines, other top contenders for SEC chair include Hester Pierce, Brian Brooks, Chris Giancarlo, Heath Tarbert, and Dan Gallagher, among others. 

Paul Atkins was on Protos’ original list of likely successors of Gary Gensler, published November 7.

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World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency project endorsed by Donald Trump, has sold approximately 1.35 billion tokens, 2% of its original goal and approximately 68% of the revised target.

In the X (formerly Twitter) Spaces call where the Trump family endorsed this token, the team promised that 63 billion of the $WLFI token would be sold to the public.

This amount was cut to 35 billion in the ‘Gold Paper,’ which was cut to 20 billion on the website, and to 2 billion in Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Thirty-five billion is still listed in the token sale terms and conditions, and 20 billion is still listed on the website. 

Even with these incredible cuts to its target, World Liberty, which was endorsed by the sexual predator and fraudster, President-elect Trump, has yet to achieve its goal.

Read more: Trump-backed World Liberty Financial stumbles at launch, website goes offline

Intriguingly, a Dune dashboard developed by ‘Seoulcalibur.eth’ suggests that over 23% of the total sales have gone to just five wallets, with the largest holding over 193,000 tokens. 

Furthermore, the token has repeatedly misrepresented itself in its marketing, claiming to be a ‘governance’ token, despite the fact that 22.5 billion tokens — more than 10 times what will be sold to the public — have been allocated to a Trump-affiliated firm, meaning the public will never truly be able to influence governance. 

This Trump-affiliated firm is also expected to receive 75% of the revenue from the protocol if it ever launches. 

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After bitcoin climbed above $93,000 today — another all-time high — some traders are speculating that Gulf oil money could be behind the currency’s record-breaking rally.

This week, a rumor began circulating that Middle Eastern petrostates Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), or Qatar might be buying bitcoin at a sovereign level. Some speculators believe they will announce their purchases in a few weeks at a major conference in Abu Dhabi.

Bitcoin conference organizer BTC Inc., which hosted Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, is set to welcome attendees to a satellite conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE on December 9-10.

David Bailey got Trump. Can he get MBS?

David Bailey, the conference host and CEO of Bitcoin Magazine who personally arranged for President-elect Donald Trump to speak at Bitcoin 2024, cryptically tweeted today that “the United States is being front run on its bitcoin strategy and must stand up the SBR [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve] as quickly as possible.”

Read more: Trump win sends Bitcoin price to all-time high — and boosts 8 key metrics

Fans of his political maneuvering are hopeful that he might be able to get Mohammed bin Salman, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE, or the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Many investors are discussing the possibility that Saudi money is flowing into bitcoin. Saudi Arabia isn’t only the largest petrostate in the Gulf but is of particular interest today after the market capitalization of bitcoin flippened Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company.

UAE is another guess, not only because of its vast oil wealth but also because of the location of December’s Bitcoin conference: Abu Dhabi.

A third Gulf petrostate, Qatar, is a perennial guess for sovereign investment in bitcoin, with recirculating chatter the past few weeks.

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President-elect Donald Trump is selling DOGE shirts after appointing billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as heads of the newly-coined Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE for short — a reference to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin.

The rudimentary shirts are on sale for $28 on Trump’s official campaign site. Amidst an orange-washed background of Mars, Musk and Trump’s face are plastered below ‘D O G E’. Peeking over their shoulder is a little Shiba Inu, the official Dogecoin mascot.

Following the thinly-veiled announcement of the Department of Government Efficiency, $DOGE’s volume rose to $47 billion. However, its price and market cap remained relatively stable.

It was widely expected that Musk would be appointed to an advisory or cabinet role, which may explain why $DOGE price hasn’t continued to surge.

This is Musk’s latest attempt to shamelessly pump (and likely profit) from his favorite cryptocurrency. Protos has previously tracked Dogecoin’s price following Musk’s promotional posts on X, revealing that DOGE pumped up to 32% after he tweeted about the memecoin.

Read more: CHART: Dogecoin market cap now greater than 60% of S&P 500

The billionaire posted about the token 30 times on 22 different days, between May and November 2021 alone. Since then, Musk momentarily changed Twitter’s logo to the DOGE mascot, which led to a 30% price pump.

Dogecoin investors famously sued Musk for allegedly orchestrating these “publicity stunts” to pump and sell at a profit. However, Musk managed to get the lawsuit dismissed in late August.

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Certain members of the crypto community would love to wave goodbye to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell when Donald Trump becomes president. The two men have sparred for years, and crypto promoters want to see Trump surrounded with loyalists who keep markets sailing smoothly.

Already assuming that Trump will find some way to oust Powell, potential candidates for his replacement are already circulating. Current top guesses include Scott Bessent, Kevin Warsh, Kevin Hassett, David Malpass, and Judy Shelton.

Powell and Trump famously clashed over interest rate policies in 2018 when Powell declared he was prepared to defend the Fed’s independence from the Executive branch in the courts. He further reminded reporters that Trump may not fire him.

Pundits speculated that Trump only backed off Powell in 2018 because his threats damaged confidence in an already shaky stock market.

Now that six years have passed since their last spat, Trump recently granted a conditional pledge to let Powell finish his term through 2026 “if I thought he was doing the right thing.”

Will Trump actually try to fire Jerome Powell?

From the crypto industry’s perspective, the earlier Powell leaves, the better. Lower interest rates, a bigger central bank balance sheet, and quantitative easing at the Fed are a recipe for booming markets.

Unfortunately, Powell is a moderate and has hiked interest rates by hundreds of basis points during Joe Biden’s term.

Incidentally, and important for context, Trump appointed Powell early in his first term as president. Granted, his 2016 appointment certainly does not mean that Trump will not try to interfere with Powell or his Fed governors during the 2025 presidency.

Indeed, Polymarket already brokers crypto-denominated bets that Trump will fire Powell within 100 days of taking office at a 7% odds rate.

How Trump would fire someone who claims the president may not fire him remains to be seen. Powell shows little interest in going anywhere without a fight. 

If Powell does depart, though, who would replace him? Below are some potentials.

Read more: Crypto promises that Donald Trump must now live up to

Scott Bessent

One of George Soros’ former chief investment officers, Bessent is already an economic adviser to Trump. He is keen to see Powell depart and has brazenly proposed a “shadow” Fed chair to effectively sideline Powell until his scheduled departure in 2026.

Bessent has been a generous Republican donor and Trump supporter. His Wall Street experience and conservative values could make him an appealing Fed chair candidate for Trump.

Kevin Warsh

Former Fed governor Warsh lost his bid for a job promotion in 2017 to Powell, but he is hoping for better chances this time. Warsh has close ties to Trump through his father-in-law Ronald Lauder, the Estée Lauder tycoon and longtime friend of Trump.

Warsh is married to Lauder’s daughter, Rachel.

Kevin Hassett

One of Trump’s former senior advisers, Hassett is a Trump loyalist with White House experience. His alignment with the incoming president and experience as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers could give him favorable odds for a Fed chairman nomination.

David Malpass

Appointed by Trump to lead the World Bank, Malpass is an obvious candidate for Fed chair. His experience in international finance and personal connections with central bankers and sovereign wealth managers around the world give him instant credibility.

Judy Shelton

Trump tried to nominate Shelton to the Fed in 2020 without success, but he might try again next year. She’s a former economic advisor to Trump, a fan of the gold standard, and a staunch critic of Jerome Powell.

Her unconventional monetary policies and proven loyalty to Trump could cater to his desires to reshape the Federal Reserve and challenge traditional economic policies.

These six candidates are, of course, only a few names among many that conservatives have floated.

Will Jerome Powell’s successor be a pro-crypto Trump loyalist?

Powell has mixed views regarding digital assets. He once referred to bitcoin as digital gold even though he thought it was too volatile to ever replace the US dollar. He also once acknowledged bitcoin’s “staying power” while testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.

Nevertheless, his incidental comments have not calmed criticisms of his hawkish monetary policies. Crypto would prefer a pro-crypto chairperson who is a Trump loyalist. Anyone who is pro-stimmy will do.

If Trump tries to fire Powell, the two men will probably clash in a legal battle that will determine the president’s level of control over the ostensibly independent Federal Reserve.

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One dream pick for a crypto-friendly treasury secretary in Donald Trump’s second administration will not be happening, as prominent hedge fund manager John Paulson said today that he won’t be taking the job.

Speaking about his decision, Paulson said, “My complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position.”

That admission is certainly true. For example, Paulson’s massive equity positions in government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose profits are swept into the US Treasury, have more than doubled in price since Trump won re-election. His conflict of interest is certainly evident.

With Paulson dropping out of the race, other contenders for the position include Key Square Group’s Scott Bessent, Cantor Fitzgerald’s pro-Tether Howard Lutnick, Jay Clayton, and Jamie Dimon.

Read more: Crypto promises that Donald Trump must now live up to

Crypto advocates had pinned hope on Paulson

Some crypto proponents had initially viewed Paulson as an incoming ally in the world’s most powerful sovereign treasury. Despite his previous skepticism towards digital assets, optimism stemmed from Paulson’s reputation as a savvy investor who has proven allegiance to Trump for years.

Just as Trump pivoted from anti- to pro-crypto during his career, so too might have Paulson. Indeed, after a half dozen NFT collections, a DeFi project, and various pro-bitcoin promises, Trump has certainly re-branded himself as a pro-crypto leader.

Read more: Tether’s dreams come true with Donald Trump victory

Many in crypto believed that Paulson’s understanding of financial markets and his willingness to embrace unconventional economic policies could translate into a favorable regulatory environment for the class. His leadership at the 100,000+ employee treasury would have been a welcome reprieve from Janet Yellen’s anti-crypto reign.

They hoped his appointment might lead to policies that would encourage innovation in digital assets and support the growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Although offshore binary options markets like Polymarket do not indicate actual odds of success, Scott Bessent is currently the frontrunner for Trump’s Secretary among prediction market gamblers.

Although Paulson will not be the country’s next Treasury Secretary, other pro-crypto contenders like Bessent and Lutnick are next in line.

As the Biden-to-Trump transition process continues, the industry will be watching closely to see how treasury leadership affects digital assets during the second Trump administration.

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When Donald Trump secured the 2025 US presidency on Tuesday night, some of the world’s richest men were celebrating their own, personal windfalls. No one made more money overnight than billionaire Elon Musk, for example, whose net worth popped from $264 to $290 billion within 24 hours of Trump’s victory. Shares of his automaker Tesla have soared 20% since Trump beat Kamala Harris.

However, the crypto industry also had its own, albeit slightly more modest, tale of newfound riches. According to an estimate by Bloomberg, the net worth of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) rallied an estimated $12 billion from US election day to the following morning.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg said CZ was worth $38 billion. Today, it estimates him at $52.7 billion.

Forbes has its own, more generous methodology for estimating the Binance executive’s wealth. Although it does not provide a history of its estimates, as of today, Forbes claims he is worth $60.6 billion.

CZ’s wealth derives predominantly from his 90% equity in Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange with more than 150 million registered users. Although the company is private and does not file publicly accessible financials, Bloomberg estimates the company generates $9.8 billion in annualized revenue from spot and derivatives transactions. 

CZ has also said he owns bitcoin and BNB personally.

Read more: A complete career timeline of Binance’s billionaire chief Changpeng Zhao

Analysts attributed CZ’s overnight enrichment to a rally in crypto prices following Trump’s win. With bitcoin up 7% this week and hundreds of billions of dollars added to global crypto market capitalizations, there were understandable increases in Binance’s equity value as a crypto-holding entity that benefits from the fortunes of its crypto-holding customers.

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During his speech at Bitcoin 2024, incoming US President Donald Trump promised to fire Gary Gensler as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC Chairman,” he declared to uproarious applause. “I didn’t know he was that unpopular. Let me say it again. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.”

Although there are some formalities to removing Gensler from office without showing cause — including the possibility of a legal challenge by the SEC itself — his resignation or involuntary departure seems likely at some point during 2025.

With Howard Lutnick co-chairing Trump’s presidential transition team and making recommendations for his replacement, several rumors have circulated about potential contenders.

Here are some popular guesses for candidates who might earn Trump’s endorsement to lead the SEC.

Read more: Trump discovered he was winning via Polymarket, says CEO

Hester Peirce

Currently one of five sitting SEC Commissioners, Peirce is well-known for her pro-crypto stance. She is often a dissenting vote in enforcement actions and publicly bemoans majority decisions by other commissioners, for example, to sue Coinbase, Ripple, Telegram, and others.

Nicknamed “Crypto Mom” by her fans in the industry, Peirce is an obvious candidate given that she already serves on the commission.

Brian Brooks

Brooks is another clear candidate for SEC Chair after Gensler vacates his seat. Brooks is the former Acting Comptroller of the Currency, a powerful bureau of the US Treasury, and a prominent executive in the crypto industry.

He briefly served as CEO of Binance.US and, importantly, saved face by resigning after only a few weeks on the job after he realized that Changpeng Zhao (CZ) was not complying with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). CZ later pleaded guilty to criminal violations of the BSA.

Read more: Gary Gensler and SEC probed over alleged politically-biased hiring

Chris Giancarlo

Giancarlo, the ex-Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is one of two ex-CFTC leaders who is in line for a possible SEC Chair appointment. Giancarlo has favorable views on blockchain technology and is a co-founder of the Digital Dollar Project.

During his CFTC tenure, he approved the listing of bitcoin futures on the CME, defended his “Do No Harm” regulatory approach towards crypto in front of Congress, and earned the nickname “Crypto Dad.”

Heath Tarbert

Tarbert, like Giancarlo, is an ex-CFTC Chairman. Tarbert left the CFTC in 2021 to work for Citadel, a major market maker. Currently, Tarbert is the Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs at Circle, the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin, USDC.

Paul Atkins

Atkins is a former SEC commissioner and currently co-chairs the Token Alliance, a pro-crypto advocacy group. He also runs a for-profit crypto consultancy, Patomak Global Partners.

Read more: Here’s why ‘news’ attacking Gary Gensler is all over crypto media

Dan Gallagher

From 2011-2015, Gallagher was a commissioner at the SEC. Nowadays, he is Chief Legal Officer at Robinhood. Both positions earned him positive reviews from the crypto community. He has maneuvered Robinhood’s crypto listings through SEC disclosures, emphasized the need for Congress to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, and positioned himself as an advocate for responsible crypto innovation.

These candidates for SEC Chair are far more crypto-friendly than Gary Gensler. Although any appointed Chair must gain Senate confirmation, it’s likely that Trump will choose a pro-crypto government or business worker for the role, as opposed to Gensler’s famously anti-crypto stance.

Again, it’s worth reiterating that while Trump has expressed intentions to replace Gensler on “day one,” he must either show cause for job termination or risk a legal challenge to his expulsion by the Commission.

Currently scheduled to continue serving until June 2026, the particular process for removing Gensler from his leadership seat at the SEC remains unclear.

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