President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to discuss personnel appointments that could influence cryptocurrency regulations, according to the Wall Street Journal. The meeting signals potential shifts in U.S. crypto policy under the new administration.

Coinbase CEO Enters the Trump Transition Talks

The chief executive officer of the American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, is supposedly going to meet with Donald Trump as the soon-to-be president keeps announcing cabinet appointments and department heads.

Trump was planning to meet privately with Armstrong to go over nominations for staff, according to a Wall Street Journal article from November 18th. Though he did not appear to have contributed directly to the Republican's 2024 campaign or PACs endorsing him, Coinbase CEO Jerome Kern stated prior to the US election that the cryptocurrency exchange would be open to collaborating with a Trump administration.

Armstrong's or other Coinbase employee's involvement with the incoming US president's administration remains unknown. Trump, while still a candidate, promised at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July that he would form a "Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council" to "design transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry" and do it within 100 days of becoming president.

Trump's Plans to Bypass Senate Confirmation

Following the announcement of the election results on November 6, Trump has made multiple announcements regarding possible cabinet nominees, and he has even hinted at the possibility of avoiding Senate confirmation in order to have them approved in 2025, Cointelegraph shares.

This article was published before the president-elect had officially announced his plans to remove Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, whom he had pledged to dismiss "on day one."

After the US election, Armstrong took to X to express his support for one of Trump's proposals. This endeavor involved Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Vivek Ramaswamy, and it involved the "Department of Government Efficiency," which is not legally a department unless Congress establishes it. At the time of publication, Coinbase had not responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment.

Coinbase's Political Evolution After SEC Lawsuit

"Any particular causes or candidates internally that are unrelated to our mission because it is a distraction from our mission," the CEO of Coinbase stated in 2020. His stance seemed to shift in 2023, though, when the cryptocurrency exchange was hit with a Wells notice and a lawsuit for allegedly selling unregistered securities.

Armstrong urged cryptocurrency investors to "elect pro-crypto candidates" following the SEC Wells notice in an effort to gain regulatory clarification for the sector. For the 2024 US Senate elections in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, he personally urged his X followers to cast their ballots for Republican candidates.

Many of the 2024 candidates whom the Fairshake PAC felt supported crypto policies received almost $46 million in contributions from Coinbase and Armstrong. These politicians went on to win their primaries and general elections. A total of $25 million has been contributed by the exchange to the PAC in an effort to "elect pro-crypto candidates" during the US midterms of 2026.