Bitcoin Falls as Trump Takes on Crypto 🎢

What’s up, Crypto fam 🤝

What’s up is that Bitcoin miners are catching their breath after Bitcoin finally gave in to the law of gravity, which saw mining difficulty levels drop for the first time in a not-too-long while. And as you’d expect, Mr President is back in the twist but with no talk of Bitcoin this time. And just when you thought the SEC might take a break, they're still throwing punches at Kraken, and this is definitely going to be a long fight. 

Spoiler alert: it's not looking great for the exchange's defense playbook.

Here are the Highlights:

• Donald Trump’s crypto executive order doesn’t mention Bitcoin
• Bitcoin mining difficulty drops for first time since September 2024 as BTC price dips below $100k
• Trump signs executive order for crypto working group, prohibiting CBDC
• SEC Partially Wins Case Against Kraken, Judge Dismisses Key Defense On Crypto Regulation

Donald Trump’s crypto executive order doesn’t mention Bitcoin

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order entitled “STRENGTHENING AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN DIGITAL FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY” that purports to “promote United States leadership in digital assets.” However, Bitcoin purists may be disappointed that the order doesn’t specifically mention Bitcoin, instead focusing on cryptocurrency more broadly. The order is concerned generally with reiterating the administration’s support for the industry and includes an emphasis on “promoting fair and open access to banking services for all law-abiding individual citizens and private-sector entities.” 

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Bitcoin mining difficulty drops for first time since September 2024 as BTC price dips below $100k

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty decreased for the first time since September 2024, coinciding with the top asset price falling below the $100,000 mark. According to CloverPool data, the difficulty level fell by 2.12% at block height 880,992 on Jan. 27—ending an eight-cycle streak of steady increases. This decline adjusted the difficulty to 108.11 trillion from its previous record of 110.45 trillion. Mining difficulty is a key measure of the difficulty of validating new blocks on the Bitcoin network. The system automatically adjusts this difficulty approximately every two weeks, or after 2,016 blocks, to maintain a consistent block discovery time of 10 minutes.

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Trump signs executive order for crypto working group, prohibiting CBDC

US President Donald Trump has signed his first executive order potentially affecting crypto users and industry leaders, which many expected during his first days in office. In a televised address from the Oval Office on Jan. 23, Trump appeared with his “AI and crypto czar” David Sacks, who explained the executive order to the US president. According to Sacks, the EO establishes an “internal working group to make America the world capital in crypto,” with himself chairing the effort. The order also prohibits “the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a US Central Bank digital currency (CBDC) and asks the working group to study the potential creation and maintenance of a national crypto stockpile and a regulatory framework for stablecoins.

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SEC Partially Wins Case Against Kraken, Judge Dismisses Key Defense On Crypto Regulation

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) achieved a partial victory in its legal battle against Kraken as a federal judge in California dismissed one of the crypto exchange’s central defences. On 24 January 2025, Judge William Orrick ruled against Kraken’s use of the “major questions doctrine,” which claims that federal agencies cannot exercise powers not explicitly granted by Congress. The SEC had filed a motion to strike three of Kraken’s defences in a lawsuit accusing the exchange of offering unregistered securities. Judge Orrick found that the SEC’s authority over digital assets did not exceed Congressional intent, stating that cryptocurrency, while growing, has not yet reached the economic significance of industries like energy or student loans—common examples in major questions doctrine cases.

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