(Bloomberg) -- Executives in the digital-asset industry are joining the ranks of tech CEOs making the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Donald Trump before his impending return to the White House.
Kris Marszalek, Chief Executive Officer of crypto exchange Crypto.com, met with Trump at the Florida golf resort on Monday. The pair discussed appointments related to the crypto industry, including in financial departments, Congress and the incoming administration, according to a person familiar with the meeting who asked not to be named discussing a private conversation.
They also discussed the Bitcoin reserve, the person said.
“We look forward to working with the new administration to develop and advance clear regulations for the crypto industry so the US can become a global leader in digital assets and innovation,” a Crypto.com spokesperson said in a statement provided to Bloomberg News.
Marszalek’s visit comes after Coinbase Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong held a phone discussion with Trump last month, Fortune reported at the time.
Trump has selected crypto advocates for key roles in his new administration since securing the November election, including Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary and Paul Atkins, Trump’s pick to run the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a move that surprised the industry lobbyists and executives who’d been advocating for a dedicated “crypto czar”, Trump selected venture capitalist David Sacks to advise on both artificial intelligence and crypto.
Singapore-based Crypto.com had filed a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission in October after receiving a Wells notice indicating the regulator’s intention to bring an enforcement action against the digital-asset exchange. Crypto.com voluntarily withdrew that suit on Dec. 16, according to court filings.
“We withdrew our action against the SEC given our intent to work with the incoming administration on a regulatory framework for the industry,” the Crypto.com spokesperson said.
Other platforms, including Coinbase, have also clashed with the SEC. “We’re gratified by the degree that the new incoming administration team has had an open door with Coinbase and the crypto community,” a spokesperson for Coinbase told Bloomberg News.
Trump has his own crypto project with his family: World Liberty Financial, unveiled in September as focusing on decentralized finance. The project received $30 million from entrepreneur Justin Sun, Bloomberg reported in November.
(Adds comment from Crypto.com about withdrawing its SEC lawsuit in the ninth paragraph. A previous version corrected the context of the conversation around the potential US strategic Bitcoin reserve in the third paragraph.)