US President Donald Trump’s administration may be shelving plans for a formal “Crypto Council” in favor of a series of informal summits featuring a rotating cast of industry leaders. The change, first reported by Unchained Crypto on February 13, is thought to reflect both strategic policy considerations and an attempt to defuse growing internal tensions across the digital asset industry.
Crypto Council On Ice, Summits In Play
According to Unchained, three anonymous sources familiar with the administration’s decision-making process revealed that these proposed summits would likely tackle distinct policy issues, ranging from banking and payments to data centers and Bitcoin (BTC) mining.
In a portion of its report, Unchained stated: “The Trump administration may not launch a formal ‘crypto council’ after all. Instead, the White House will likely gather a rotating group of crypto leaders for a series of ‘summits’ on specific crypto policy issues, according to three sources familiar with the decision-making process.”
It remains unclear how many summits the White House is considering or exactly when they would take place. Two of the sources told Unchained Crypto that industry trade associations have been weighing in on potential formats and discussion topics.
The prospect of these ad hoc summits appears to stem from the Trump team’s desire to steer clear of power struggles within the broad crypto ecosystem. Industry players have increasingly splintered into factions, including “Bitcoin maximalists,” proponents of decentralized finance (DeFi), backers of centralized exchanges, and others with differing visions of integration with traditional finance.
Many in the digital asset space had previously expected the launch of a “presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets (the ‘Crypto Council’).” That expectation was fueled by a December post from President Trump on Truth Social in which he described plans for an advisory group “composed of luminaries from the Crypto industry.”
Under the initial proposal, Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks would serve as chair, and former congressional candidate Bo Hines would act as executive director. While Hines has kept a low profile since December, one unnamed source told Unchained that he has been meeting with lawmakers and lobbyists in Washington to assess alternatives. According to this same source, the summits could be explained to the public as “a no-brainer way to have America’s brightest minds weigh in on their areas of expertise.”
Not everyone sees the pivot as a purely strategic move. In Unchained’s coverage, one unnamed individual expressed skepticism: The summits might be “purely a way to avoid conflict” and could allow Trump to gather insider information “he could use to make money for himself.” Another source described Trump’s personal crypto ventures, including the TRUMP memecoin and involvement in World Liberty Financial, as “an embarrassment.”
Just last week, The New York Post leaked several potential candidates for the Trump administration’s Crypto Council. Among them were former Kraken general counsel Marco Santori, Ripple co-founder Brad Garlinghouse, podcast host Frank Chaparro, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, and Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek.
Is Ripple To Blame?
Fueling rumors further, Andrew Parish (@AP_Abacus), founder of x3, shared what he claimed was a statement from an alleged insider. Parish’s posted on X: “Should be obvious at this point. And sources confirming late last night: ‘Ripple pressed too hard, no chance XRP makes it into any fed level reserve,” and ‘Focus remains on Bitcoin and best path to an SBR […] ‘SBR isn’t simple, will take time; have to avoid law of unintended consequences […] Trump is smart, trusts Bitcoin first thesis.’”
These remarks suggest that Ripple’s lobbying—or perceived overreach—might be pushing the Trump administration away from giving Ripple a prominent role in government-level discussions. However, Parish’s posts are based on anonymous sources and remain unverified.
Several prominent figures in the Bitcoin community have offered their take on the rumored developments. Julian Fahrer, co-founder of Apollo, stated via X: “Trump is considering abandoning the Crypto Council. Not surprising. Imagine what Ripple’s contribution has been so far: ‘Here’s our plan for dumping XRP on the American people in perpetuity.’ Shocking that this brain trust isn’t working out!”
Meanwhile, Steven Lubka, Head of Swan Private, also posted on X: “Ripples posturing may have nuked the entire crypto council with Trump leading towards summits instead.”
At press time, XRP traded at $2.54.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
