Digital Asset Summit Recap: Trump Makes Surprise Appearance, Crypto Legislation Poised To Move Forward, and Gemini Talks Crypto Custody

Crypto industry heavyweights were in a buoyant mood last week for a series of panels at Digital Asset Summit 2025 in New York. More than 1,800 attendees and 750 institutions with some $1.2 trillion in AUM piled into the Javits Center for a three-day networking event that focused on key themes within the crypto community, including the macro case for digital assets, institutional adoption, and US crypto policy.

After years of regulatory scrutiny and seeing their hopes for crypto legislation stall, Congress has moved forward with a stablecoin bill and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ended its regulation by enforcement approach. Meanwhile, prominent exchanges have made improvements to crypto custody protocols that have helped pull in more institutional investors, setting the stage for deeper integration of digital assets with traditional finance.

Below are a few top takeaways from the event:

Trump Says US Will Dominate Crypto Moving Forward

Late Wednesday afternoon, DAS attendees began hearing rumors of a surprise speaker for the final day of the event. Blockworks, the conference’s presenting sponsor, announced a few hours later it was President Donald Trump.

On Thursday morning, the 47th president addressed a standing-room only crowd at the Javits Center via video conference in a three-minute video where he proclaimed the crypto industry was poised to spark significant economic growth in the coming years.

“It’s an honor to speak with you about how the US is going to dominate crypto and the next generation of financial technologies,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, but we’re way ahead.”

Trump re-affirmed his administration’s commitment to pushing forward stablecoin legislation and passing a comprehensive marketplace structure law to regulate digital assets.

He also pledged to end crypto de-banking practices that made it difficult for banks to custody crypto assets.

“We’re ending the last administration’s regulatory war on crypto and bitcoin, and that includes stopping the lawless Operation Choke Point,” Trump said. “‘Operation Choke Point went beyond regulation, and I mean far beyond. Frankly, it was a disgrace. But as of January 2025, all of that is over.”

During his campaign, Trump courted the crypto industry and promised to change the regulatory environment under former SEC chair Gary Gensler, a crypto skeptic. Gensler stepped down in January and the agency has since dropped prominent cases against multiple crypto firms after alleging they sold unregistered securities.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has also introduced a Crypto Task Force aimed at working collaboratively with the industry to set new rules for crypto and DeFi. Last Friday, the Crypto Task Force held the first of multiple planned roundtables to discuss how to treat crypto tokens.

"Pioneers like you will be able to improve our banking and payment system and promote greater privacy, safety, security, and wealth for American consumers and businesses alike," Trump said. "You will unleash an explosion of economic growth."

Trump Wants Crypto Legislation by August

House Majority WHIP Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), a longtime crypto advocate, took the main stage Wednesday and all but guaranteed that Congress would pass a stablecoin bill and a bill offering a regulatory framework for digital assets by the end of summer.

“The president says he wants stablecoin legislation and framework legislation done by the August break and that’s what we’re going to do,” Emmer said.

Congress has pushed stablecoin legislation annually for years, but passing it has proven elusive. With pro-crypto Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and Trump pledging to make the United States the crypto capital of the world, the political winds are now in the crypto industry’s favor.

On March 13, the US Senate Banking Committee passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act of 2025 (GENIUS Act) out of committee with an 18-6 vote. It marked a major step in passing stablecoin legislation into law. The bill will need 60 votes in the Senate and a majority vote in the House before Trump can sign it into law.

Last year, the US House passed FIT21, a digital assets framework bill, with bipartisan support. But no corresponding legislation moved forward in the Senate and it was not signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Emmer didn’t offer specifics about a 2025 version of FIT21, but said expects there to be a corresponding piece of legislation that will complement Trump’s executive order from his first month in office. That includes a bill to codify Trump’s proposal to establish a bitcoin reserve and a national digital asset stockpile. On Wednesday, Emmer introduced the Securities Clarities Act, a revised version of Fit21 that offers a distinction between an assets and securities contract.

“I believe that before this Congress is done, that will be enacted,” Emmer said.

Gemini Weighs In on Future of Crypto Custody

Gemini COO Marshall Beard joined a panel Tuesday to discuss the future of custodying digital assets. Gemini’s custodial business has grown rapidly over the past year-plus, most recently striking a deal with Evolve to custody the Canadian firm’s levered bitcoin and ethereum ETFs.

Asked if the administration’s regulatory overhaul would have a huge impact on Gemini, Beard said it doesn’t change Gemini’s fundamental mission to offer clients secure digital asset storage.

“It's obviously very positive from the policy side, but from the business side, I don't think it changes too much,” Beard said. “Except it opens up more partnership opportunities in distribution…it doesn't change our business long-term, right? Which at the end of the day is keeping digital assets safe.”

The SEC recently repealed SAB 121, a controversial accounting bulletin that forced banks to list crypto as liabilities on their balance sheet. That effectively shut out many firms from receiving banking services and has kept numerous banks from storing digital assets on their own balance sheets.

Gemini and others have also experienced massive inflows from approval of spot bitcoin and ethereum ETFs.

“The approval and the launch of the bitcoin and ethereum ETFs have been additive,” Beard said. “There's been tens of billions of dollars of inflows that are going to custodians like ours.”

With regulatory clarity improving in some areas exchanges are finally at a point where they can focus all their attention on innovation. For Gemini, that will include offering customers more opportunities to earn yield from staking.