Trump Hosts Tech, Crypto Leaders Ahead of Inaugural Innovation Advisory Meeting 

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump invited finance, technology, and cryptocurrency executives to the White House for a Roosevelt Room ceremony on Aug. 19 to discuss innovations and opportunities to advance American interests.

The ceremony took place one day before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee’s first meeting. Reducing regulatory obstacles and bureaucratic red tape are priorities for the group, according to the president.

“The radical left tried to crush these developments with crippling regulations,” Trump said.

He listed the steps his administration took to remove the restrictions and support new financial technologies, including removing the former Securities and Exchange Commission chair, Gary Gensler, and terminating federal efforts, known as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” to block crypto and de-bank digital assets.

“We ended the war on crypto,” Trump said.

The president has signed multiple executive orders related to the subject in his second term. One established a strategic Bitcoin reserve, and another banned federal agencies from creating a central bank digital currency.

A bill signed in July 2025, known as the GENIUS Act, which stands for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, set guidelines for dollar-backed stablecoins. 

“Every single American benefits from our country’s status as the financial center of the world,” Trump said. 

“We are ensuring that America remains the undisputed leader in technologies like prediction markets, artificial intelligence, and much more,” he said, urging lawmakers to support the agenda by passing relevant legislation, including the Clarity Act, which would create a federal framework for digital assets.

“It’s very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China and everyone else,” the president said. “We will open the door to the next wave of innovations and innovators.”

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders and guide future policy discussions, noting a clear distinction between their relationship with the prior administration. 

“The era of political law is over,” Selig said during the event. “Innovators like the people in this room are welcome to the White House, not railroaded to the big house.” 

He commended the president for overseeing crypto policy reform and protecting intellectual property rights for software companies and others. 

“We’ve exiled, defeated the anti-crypto army and made the United States the crypto capital of the world,” Selig said, cautioning that China and other adversaries are seeking to take advantage of strict regulatory structures imposed by the U.S. government. 

“The United States has a choice. We can write the rules that define the next generation, or we can let other countries write them for us.” 

Paul Atkins, SEC chairman, described efforts to make initial public offerings “great again by cutting red tape that discourages companies from going public.” 

He noted agency statistics that show a 75 percent increase in IPOs, in the first year and a half of Trump’s administration compared to the last 18 months of Biden’s term. The 583 companies that went public raised $208 billion, four times the amount raised by IPOs in Biden’s last 18 months in office.

Industry leaders spoke of the impact the current administration’s deregulatory agenda had on businesses and equity markets.

Jeff Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and New York Stock Exchange chairman, emphasized the president’s use of trade negotiations to reshore manufacturing, America-dominant energy strategy, and investment incentives as key catalysts to the success seen in the stock markets. 

“We are here to talk about how to evolve regulation so that we don’t impede that progress,” Sprecher said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among the Cabinet officials involved in the discussions.

The advisory committee is set to meet from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 20 and will be livestreamed on the agency’s website.