U.S. President Donald Trump said he helped secure America’s place as the "crypto capital of the world" by backing legislation aimed at boosting the digital asset industry in a lengthy speech to world leaders and bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump claimed on Wednesday that he signed a "landmark GENIUS Act" last year, focused on stablecoins, partly to gain political support and partly to keep China from leading the space. He added that Congress is now working on broader market structure rules, which he said he hopes to sign "very soon."
The U.S. Senate is currently working on a market structure bill through two committees; one is expected to release draft legislation later Wednesday, while the other pulled a vote last week and is still working on the legislation.
Trump said he put crypto policy high on his agenda for two reasons. "Number one, I thought it was politically good, and it was," he said. "I got tremendous political support."
Crypto companies have supported political action committees to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. These PACs heavily donated to candidates in the 2024 U.S. election, and are now gearing up to try and influence the 2026 midterm election.
"But more importantly, China wanted that market too," Trump added. "We have to make it so that China doesn't get the hold of it. It's just like they want the AI, and we've got that market, I think, pretty well locked up."