Crypto Week in D.C. Brings Pardon for Ulbricht, BitMEX Co-Founders, SEC Shifts

July 14, 2025, marked the start of Crypto Week in D.C., signaling the administration's ongoing efforts to regulate and sometimes deregulate the crypto space. The first half of 2025 saw limited easy wins for the industry, but notable advances were made.

One significant move was the full pardon granted to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road marketplace, by President Trump. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 for charges including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, money laundering, and drug trafficking. His pardon was celebrated by the crypto community, who saw it as a recognition of his role in Bitcoin’s early adoption.

In addition to Ulbricht, BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, who were charged with financial crimes, were also pardoned. This move raised hopes among developers of Bitcoin mixers accused of money laundering, who argued that they only created tools used by both criminals and law-abiding citizens. The pardon of early Bitcoin evangelist Roger Ver, charged with tax fraud, was reportedly discussed by Elon Musk while serving in the Department of Government Efficiency, but it did not materialize.

Following Gary Gensler's resignation as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC became one of the most crypto-friendly agencies in the U.S. The agency adopted a combination of executive actions and guidance to create a smoother path for U.S. cryptocurrency businesses. The SEC welcomed crypto business leaders and experts to help shape new industry rules, marking a significant shift from the previous application of securities laws to cryptocurrencies. The status of memecoins changed to “collectibles,” allowing for less restrictive business in that sector.

The SEC dropped several enforcement actions started during the Gensler era, discontinuing legal battles with key industry players such as Coinbase and Ripple. A Crypto Task Force created in January 2025 is working to provide U.S. crypto entrepreneurs and innovators with a much-needed framework, with names like Hester Peirce, Mark Uyeda, and Paul S. Atkins associated with the positive shift in the legal status of cryptocurrency.

One of Trump’s campaign promises was the creation of a Bitcoin stockpile, which was seen as a disappointment by some as it simply rebranded seized bitcoins as a “reserve.” The audit of U.S. Bitcoin holdings, due in April, has not been updated. Trump opposed work on central bank digital currencies, citing privacy concerns and expressing a preference for stablecoins issued by private companies. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act, was intended to shape this framework but faced delays due to political disagreements.

The president’s family’s involvement in the crypto industry has raised concerns among both critics and some supporters. Trump, his wife Melania, and his sons Eric and Donald are reportedly behind ventures such as World Liberty Finance, memecoins Official Trump and Melania, the mining company American Bitcoin, and other ventures, using their influence as a privilege in the sector. Democrats continue their efforts to dismantle Trump’s crypto empire.

According to Carter Razink, co-founder of the company building stablecoin-backed rewards Spree Finance, the current influence of the Trump Administration’s efforts in crypto regulations can be described as having both hard and soft impacts. The hard impact is pro-crypto legislation such as the GENIUS Act, which gives stablecoins a definitive, trillion-dollar regulatory runway. The soft impact is that founders no longer fear “Operation Chokepoint 2.0”-style debanking—building the future of finance on U.S. soil now feels safe and even encouraged.

Razink believes that these forces recalibrate the risk profile for digital-asset startups and tilt the scales back toward American innovation. He notes that when the U.S. hosts the tech giants, it gains disproportionate geopolitical clout. Pairing that technology scale with financial leverage positions America to dominate the next wave of financial technology. Razink sees this unfolding at Spree Finance, where on-chain stablecoins power rewards programs that work and feel like airline miles or credit card points. The more usable and well-regulated these stablecoins become, the more they’ll bridge traditional finance and the next generation of digital money.