Digital Finance Game: The US Cryptocurrency Strategy Unveiled

In the accelerating phase of the global economic digital transformation, digital currencies have become a new focus of competition among major powers. Recently, the Trump administration introduced a series of groundbreaking cryptocurrency policies aimed at making the United States the “Global Cryptocurrency Center,” thereby continuing and strengthening dollar hegemony in the digital financial era.

This strategy involves not only financial regulation and technological innovation but also implicitly aims to reshape the international power structure. The following is an overview and analysis of this strategy from the aspects of strategic motivation, policy measures, challenges faced, and future prospects.

1. Strategic Motivation: Maintaining Hegemony and Responding to Internal and External Pressures

The Trump administration’s push for a cryptocurrency strategy is driven by multiple motives, encompassing both practical considerations in economics and finance and deep strategic ambitions.

a. Easing Debt Pressure and Enhancing the Attractiveness of Dollar Assets

● The US federal debt has surpassed $36 trillion, with debt-to-GDP ratio exceeding 120%. Meanwhile, major creditor countries continue to reduce their holdings of US debt, raising questions about the credibility of the dollar. By incorporating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin into the national strategic reserves, the US attempts to hedge against dollar devaluation risks with these “digital gold,” attract global capital backflows, and boost market confidence in dollar assets.

b. Seizing the High Ground in Digital Finance and Consolidating Industry Advantages

● Global competition in digital currencies is intensifying, with major economies such as China and the EU enhancing financial autonomy through central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The US chooses to leverage market-oriented, privatized cryptocurrencies as a breakthrough, stimulating blockchain innovation through relaxed regulation, driving capital and technology into the crypto sector, and maintaining dominance in digital financial infrastructure and standards setting.

c. Serving Interest Groups and Electoral Politics

● The Trump family and their supporters have deep involvement in the crypto space. Trump himself holds approximately $25 million worth of crypto assets, and has issued related tokens. In the 2024 election, the crypto industry has contributed over $200 million in political donations to him. Policy “liberalization” and legislative pushes also respond to the demands of interest groups to some extent.

d. Responding to the “De-dollarization” Trend and Reshaping Payment Networks

● Emerging market countries are accelerating cross-border payment “de-dollarization,” with digital currencies becoming important tools. The US is building a new payment ecosystem using dollar stablecoins (such as USDC): overseas users purchase stablecoins, issuers must reserve an equivalent amount of dollars or US bonds, thereby strengthening the dollar’s penetration in global transactions. This effectively extends dollar hegemony into blockchain networks.

2. Core Measures: Coordinated Promotion of Legislation, Reserves, and Institutional Reform

To achieve the goal of making the US a “global center for cryptocurrencies,” the Trump administration has taken comprehensive measures, from institutional design to asset allocation.

a. Key Legislative Breakthroughs and Regulatory Framework Construction

i. GENIUS Act: Establishes a stablecoin regulatory system, requiring stablecoins to be pegged 1:1 with the dollar, and positions them as “legitimate tokens of the dollar,” promoting widespread use in payments.

ii. L-G Act: Clarifies classifications of digital assets, delineates regulatory boundaries between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), reducing legal uncertainties.

iii. Repeal of SAB121 Rule: Cancels the requirement that corporate holdings of crypto assets be recorded as liabilities, lowering barriers for financial institutions to participate in custody services.

b. Establishment of a National Cryptocurrency Strategic Reserve

● In March 2025, the US announced the inclusion of five cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, into the national reserve, planning to acquire 1 million Bitcoin over five years to create a “Digital Fortress.” These assets are mainly obtained through judicial confiscation, with the government committing to long-term holding, giving them a strategic reserve status similar to gold.

c. Setting up Cross-Departmental Coordination Agencies to Strengthen Policy Unity

● The White House established the “Digital Asset Market Working Group” under the National Economic Council, led by AI and cryptocurrency advisors, coordinating agencies such as SEC, CFTC, and the Treasury Department to accelerate regulatory framework development and avoid overlapping responsibilities and policy fragmentation.

d. Hosting the White House Cryptocurrency Summit to Build Consensus

● In March 2025, Trump convened industry leaders, government officials, and scholars for a summit, establishing four major agendas: reserves, legislation, regulatory reform, and competitiveness, sending a clear policy support signal to society and pushing the strategy into rapid implementation.

3. Challenges: Internal Divisions and International Competition Coexist

Despite rapid progress, the sustainability of this strategy faces significant internal and external constraints.

a. International Regulatory Competition and Market Fragmentation

● The EU has implemented the strict Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, setting high thresholds for stablecoin issuance and restricting the expansion of US dollar stablecoins in Europe. Countries like South Korea and Singapore have also introduced their own regulatory systems. The lack of unified global standards increases compliance costs for enterprises and weakens the global competitiveness of US companies.

b. Trust Crisis in the US Dollar Credit System

● US debt levels are rising, with countries continuing to reduce holdings of US debt, undermining the dollar’s underlying credibility. The diversification of oil trade settlement currencies and the emergence of new payment systems like “Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridges” are also eroding the dollar’s monopoly in international settlement.

c. Unclear Domestic Regulatory Responsibilities and Federal-State Conflicts

● SEC and CFTC have long-standing disagreements over the classification of cryptocurrencies, and regulatory standards vary across states (e.g., Wyoming supports innovation, New York enforces strict compliance), leading to complex and conflicting compliance environments for enterprises, affecting the efficiency of nationwide strategy implementation.

d. Risks in the Cryptocurrency Market Itself

● Issues such as extreme price volatility, energy consumption controversies, and illegal trading risks mean cryptocurrencies are still regarded as high-risk assets. Incorporating large-scale reserves could expose US finances to systemic market risks.

4. Outlook: Short-term Gains and Long-term Risks

The Trump administration’s cryptocurrency strategy has already produced noticeable short-term effects, but its long-term sustainability remains uncertain.

a. Short-term Boost to Market Prosperity and Political Influence

● Relaxed regulations have enabled companies like Coinbase and Circle to expand operations in the US, creating numerous jobs. The crypto industry’s political donations and lobbying have established significant policy influence, making cryptocurrency issues a bipartisan consensus area in the US.

b. Long-term Sustainability Challenges

● If the US dollar’s credibility continues to decline, Bitcoin reserves may become an independent safe-haven asset, weakening its role as an extension of the dollar. Fragmented global regulation may also force enterprises to comply with multiple standards, hampering innovation efficiency.

c. Intensifying Global Financial Governance Divisions

● The US’s laissez-faire approach, the EU’s strict regulation, and China’s sovereignty-led model are deepening regulatory divergence. Conflicts over data sovereignty and cross-border rules may lead to regionalized digital financial systems, increasing international coordination difficulties.

5. New Paths and Uncertainties in Hegemony Continuation

● The Trump administration’s use of cryptocurrencies as a tool is essentially an attempt to extend dollar hegemony into the digital financial realm through a dual mechanism of “institutional arrangements + technological embedding.” This strategy can consolidate US leadership in the short term through market vitality and inject new demand into the dollar system.

● However, whether this strategy can be sustained depends on the US’s ability to effectively address internal regulatory divisions, international rule competition, and the erosion of dollar credibility.

● In the digital age, financial hegemony no longer relies solely on military or economic scale but also on the ability to shape technological standards, governance rules, and alliance systems. The future global financial landscape is quietly being reshaped in this game of “Digital Dollar” versus “De-dollarization.”

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