White House Crypto Summit Sparks Bitcoin Surge Amid Regulatory Uncertainty

The blockchain industry is preparing for a significant event: the White House Crypto Summit, scheduled for March 7. This high-profile gathering will bring together leaders from the crypto industry and U.S. government officials, following President Donald Trump’s executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a national digital asset stockpile. The summit aims to position the U.S. as a global leader in digital assets, although some industry observers remain skeptical about its impact on regulatory clarity and policy direction.

Prominent figures expected to attend include Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor, coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, and White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks. The Trump administration has been swift in implementing pro-crypto policies, but the summit's agenda remains undisclosed, leaving much to speculation.

During his campaign, Trump pledged to make the U.S. a leader in the cryptocurrency industry, vowing to dominate Bitcoin mining. Advertising executive Marc Beckman described the summit as historic, aligning with Trump's vision to make the U.S. the center of the cryptocurrency universe. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov expects the summit to focus on strengthening U.S. leadership in the digital asset industry, while Strategy’s Saylor hopes it will highlight the need for clarity in digital assets.

However, not all industry figures are optimistic. Cardano and IOHK co-founder Charles Hoskinson, who was not invited to the event, argued that lasting regulatory change requires working with Congress, not just the White House. He criticized the invitation-only nature of the summit, suggesting that broader industry involvement is necessary for meaningful progress.

Some critics have suggested that the summit is a profit-driven move for Trump and his associates. World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance platform associated with the Trump family, purchased $20 million worth of crypto ahead of the event. Blockchain analysis account Chain Mind claimed that the summit is just another pump-and-dump scheme from WLFI, which released Trump-themed tokens ahead of his inauguration, the prices of which have since collapsed.

The White House Crypto Summit follows Trump’s March 6 executive order for the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile. This policy has gained traction at the state level, with Bitcoin or crypto reserve-related legislation pending in various state legislatures. The order repurposes Bitcoin “owned by the Department of Treasury that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture