Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at Variant, said Washington is laying the foundation for a regulated crypto industry but traders remain fixated on short-term memecoin pumps.
“The US government’s genuine acceptance of crypto as a core feature of the financial system and internet” is happening, but the “market doesn’t seem to care,” he posted on X on Feb. 7.
After Donald Trump’s election victory in late 2024, the market priced in its “wildest dreams” about how quickly and completely crypto would take over America. Bitcoin and other altcoins soared, expecting an immediate regulatory shift.
However, Chervinsky describes reality as a “slow, uncertain grind” rather than an overnight transformation.
“All the pieces are falling into place so that crypto can mature into a serious industry where real products are built and fundamentals matter,” he added. “This takes a long time.”
A regulatory shift
Chervinsky notes three major policy shifts currently taking shape under the Trump administration and the 119th Congress that could transform the crypto industry for the long term.
“Stablecoin regulation, opening the floodgates for TradFi to pour dollars and users on-chain,” he noted. “Securities clarity, allowing builders to launch tokens that aren’t valueless memes,” and “Market structure, giving credibility to trading venues.”
The long-standing question of which cryptocurrencies qualify as securities has stifled innovation in the United States. A shift in regulatory stance could reduce legal uncertainty, encouraging more development and investment, Chervinsky believes.
Memecoins vs. policy wins
Chervinsky also pointed out the absurdity of expecting a bigger short-term catalyst than Trump launching his own memecoin.
“The literal President of the United States already launched a memecoin. Please tell me anything that could reasonably happen in the foreseeable future bigger than that. I’ll wait,” he quipped.
He argues that while retail investors chase speculative gains, Washington is tackling the critical long-term issues that will determine crypto’s place in the financial system.
“But today’s market doesn’t seem to care about crypto becoming a serious industry,” he added. “If you want to build something real, things like the SEC’s Crypto Task Force matter a lot. If you just want a memecoin pump, they probably don’t. Right now, the market seems to prefer the pump.”