Episode #66 with Henri Arslanian (Nine Blocks Capital Management) and Andrew Fei (King & Wood Mallesons)

This episode opens with Andrew Fei discussing recent US crypto regulatory developments. Then, Henri Arslanian, a leading voice in global crypto circles, shares his insights on the Trump administration’s decision to establish a cryptocurrency strategic reserve made up of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano. “This really may start paving the way for other countries to look at potentially acquiring Bitcoin as part of their strategic… their own basket of reserves,” he said, referring to the ripple effect the U.S. reserve move could have on global sovereign crypto adoption. 

In the Spotlight segment, Andrew discusses with Regulatory Ramblings host, Ajay Shamdasani, the implications of recent US regulatory developments for Asia, the Mideast, the rest of the world such as the GENIUS Act and the recent White House Crypto Summit in Washington, DC. 

Henri then shares his thoughts on the Trump administration’s decision to create a reserve composed of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano. While acknowledging it is a significant step forward for crypto, he said the move is not without criticism because it begs the question why certain virtual assets were chosen for the reserve and not others. 

Reflecting on the 2024 US Presidential Election, Henri stressed that concerns over which party would be friendlier to the industry was partly why the recent US presential election swung in Donald Trump’s favor because for many single-issue voters, the future of digital currencies was their paramount concern. In that sense, it could be said that 2024 was the election that the crypto bros bought.   

Henri also shares his thoughts on what it means for the rest of the world if the US creates its own crypto reserve, stating the entry of institutional and sovereign players hints at a more distributed global adoption trend.  

While the idea of a strategic reserve for critical assets or commodities is not new, it is curious as to why President Trump did so now when he was vehemently against crypto during his first term (2017-21). The popular press has suggested that Silicon Valley power players such as Peter Theil, Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk helped Trump change his mind and brought him around to the cause. 

As Henri himself wrote in a recent piece on LinkedIn: “We should expect criticism—rightly so—regarding how the included coins were selected for this reserve. Bitcoin makes complete sense. One could also argue for ETH and perhaps SOL. However, the inclusion of XRP and ADA will likely be questioned.”  

Additionally, Solana and Ethereum are two platforms used by many American firms including important companies like Visa and Blackrock.  

As Henri noted in his recent article, the presidential action prohibited the purchase of additional crypto without a specific executive or legislative action. Simply put: “the U.S. is not going to buy new Bitcoin but rather keep the 200,000 BTC it already holds mainly via the seizure of Silk Road assets and the recovery of the Bitfinex hack.” 

Moreover, mainland China purportedly holds around 190,000 Bitcoin, primarily acquired through its 2019 seizure from the PlusToken ponzi scheme, and the UK allegedly owns 60,000 seized Bitcoin. 

For more about our guests, please visit: www.hkufintech.com/regulatoryramblings

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.