The long-awaited Crypto Summit held at the White House had generated high hopes in the crypto community. However, the summit’s content and agenda painted a picture far from meeting expectations.

The event, led by US President Donald Trump, fell short of delivering concrete messages on important policy changes and regulatory approaches towards cryptocurrencies, opting instead for unexpected topics and symbolic gestures.

FOOTBALL AGENDA INSTEAD OF CRYPTO:
The summit, held on Friday, March 7th, was expected to involve significant discussions on the future of crypto and blockchain in the US. However, the opening speech being delivered by FIFA President Gianni Infantino instead of Trump came as a huge surprise to the participants. Infantino not only introduced a new FIFA trophy shaped like an armillary sphere resembling the Game of Thrones opening credits but also brought up the idea of a potential token for FIFA.

Infantino emphasized that the global football economy is worth $170 billion, with only 30% of it taking place in Europe.

FIFA, aiming to evaluate the US potential in this field, expressed its willingness to launch a cryptocurrency targeting five billion football fans. Trump showed interest in this suggestion, stating, “It could actually be quite a large sum of money.”

TRUMP’S WORDS RAISED DOUBTS:
Following this opening not directly related to crypto, Trump took the stage with a more familiar rhetoric targeting crypto investors. By stating “Never sell your Bitcoin,” he repeated a popular crypto mantra but then expressed uncertainty about the validity of those words.

This statement raised doubts about the sincerity of Trump’s approach towards cryptocurrencies. It raised questions whether he used rhetoric to please the crowd or actually had a clear vision of the sector.

CRYPTO INDUSTRY FIGURES TRIED TO SPEAK BUT WERE IGNORED:
The public-facing 20-minute part of the summit largely consisted of thank-yous directed towards Trump. Despite efforts to speak from figures in the crypto industry like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, they struggled to find a speaking opportunity. An attempt by Armstrong to speak was ignored despite sitting just a few seats away from Trump. Instead, David Sacks offered a platform to one of the Winklevoss twins. One of the twins joked about considering a higher likelihood of being in prison than being at the White House a year ago.

When Trump asked again if anyone wanted to speak, Armstrong raised his hand, but this time, Sergey Nazarov, the founder of Chainlink, was preferred, and Armstrong was once again ignored.

UNCERTAINTY LINGERS IN THE CRYPTO COMMUNITY:
Executives leaving the summit generally had an optimistic view on the event. Figures like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor, and the Winklevoss twins suggested they had received signals that Washington could show a more positive attitude towards crypto policies. However, this optimism was not shared by the wider crypto community due to the limited information publicly disclosed.

While the discussions behind closed doors remain unknown, the summit, especially from the perspective of individual investors, turned out to be an event far from meeting high expectations. Hopes for Trump’s participation and significant statements on crypto policies during the event were dashed.

WEAKER THAN EXPECTED MARKET IMPACT:
Crypto investors had hoped that Trump’s statements during the event would have a positive impact on the market. However, a report by Bybit and Block Scholes revealed that while some crypto prices rose after Trump’s announcement of a “crypto strategic reserve,” funding rates remained stable and did not reach extreme levels. This indicated that the market found Trump’s statements supportive but insufficient and was expecting stronger regulatory clarity.