The crypto market will hit a new all-time high in 2025, thanks to positive regulatory developments in the US under newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, Binance’s CEO told CNBC on Tuesday.
Richard Teng, who took over from former Binance boss Changpeng Zhao last year, told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal that he sees “much clearer regulation” happening in the US this year under the new Trump administration, adding that this will be supportive for the crypto markets.
“If you look at the past cycles, this year will be a year where we see a new record for the crypto industry,” Teng said during a fireside chat at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 price milestone for the first time last year as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under the Trump administration. As of Tuesday, the token was trading around $104,000, down 3% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko, amid a broad slump in the crypto markets.
“The story [around crypto] has changed quite dramatically since last year,” Teng added, noting that he has heard positive crypto sentiments from political and business leaders since arriving in Davos.
In terms of new legislation, Teng said he expects progress on several fronts in the United States, including token issuance, trading and asset management.
Trump is not the only major political figure in the US who is “pro-crypto,” Teng said, adding: “The House of Representatives and the Senate are now [are] pro-crypto, compared to the past.”
“So legislation will be passed and pro-crypto regulators will be appointed to key commissioner roles at the SEC and CFTC,” the Binance CEO said.
Trump has picked respected Washington attorney Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has previously been aggressive in its enforcement approach to the crypto industry
Teng also expects Trump to give the crypto sector “certainty” and “recognition,” and establish a US strategic bitcoin reserve – something the current president suggested he would do during his campaign.
Clarification: The text and headline of this story have been clarified to reflect that Binance CEO Richard Teng said the crypto market will hit a new all-time high in 2025.