People walk past an advertisement feature Donald Trump with Bitcoin in Hong Kong.
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As President Donald Trump hit the 100-day mark this week for his second term in office, his approval numbers were lower than for any administration at this point in over seven decades.
Don’t tell that to the crypto community.
Trump ran for office on a promise to make America “the crypto capital of the world.” Those who got behind that message say he’s already delivered, or at least gotten off to a hot start.
A blitz of executive actions, strategic appointments, and early wins, from the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to the rollback of enforcement-heavy SEC tactics, has left the industry feeling more welcome in Washington, D.C., than ever.
“Every single appointment — I’m happy with from a crypto perspective,” said Nic Carter, founding partner at Castle Island Ventures. “The previous financial regulatory apparatus was dead set against crypto, and now it’s been a total 180 compared to that.”
President Trump faced early blowback after proposing the possibility of a strategic crypto reserve that would go beyond bitcoin and include other digital currencies like ether, XRP, Solana’sSOL token and Cardano’s ADA. Skeptics said taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent on such risky assets. The president soon narrowed the plan to focus solely on bitcoin and made clear he wouldn’t use taxpayer funds to support a government buying strategy.
He’s also been criticized by some for launching a meme coin that’s added billions of dollars in paper wealth to his net worth. The $TRUMP token surged earlier this month after its website announced that top holders would be invited to a private dinner with the president. His family is also involved in other crypto projects.
“It doesn’t really help to have members of his family do encrypted projects of their own,” Carter said. “I understand that they are interested in the industry and want to engage with it, but the optics are not that favorable around that.”
But for the most part, that behavior is being ignored as the crypto industry prefers to focus its attention elsewhere even as the president’s job approval broadly sits at just 43%, according to an average of recent national polls.
At the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould has signaled support for issuing new bank charters to crypto firms. During President Joe Biden’s presidency, that was almost unthinkable.
“We’ll see a lot of new crypto firms getting bank charters,” Carter said. “And new banks getting set up that are expressively focused on crypto and stablecoins.”
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, under interim chair Travis Hill, is also making moves. Crypto fans have applauded his efforts to expose what industry insiders call “Choke Point 2.0,” an alleged coordinated effort by regulators during the Biden presidency to pressure banks into severing ties with crypto.
Paul Atkins, the new chair of the SEC, represents a stark contrast to predecessor Gary Gensler, who was a notorious hardliner when it came to crypto regulations and enforcement. Carter said the SEC under Atkins has already begun working directly with crypto stakeholders, including Castle Island, to craft guidance on token issuance and the line between securities and commodities.
“This is the clarity we’ve been asking for,” Carter said. “Even barring a legislative solution, I think the SEC is going to come out with real guidance around tokens and how a domestic crypto firm can operate.”
Atkins made his first public appearance just four days into the job by opening a crypto roundtable — a move that sent a clear signal to industry participants. Last week, Atkins hosted a half-day session at SEC headquarters in Washington, D.C., focused on crypto innovation and custody. The event took place weeks after the regulator formally dropped its long-running lawsuit against Ripple, a symbolic end to a four-year battle between the SEC and the crypto industry.
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Veronica McGregor, the chief legal officer of Exodus and aparticipant in the SEC’s crypto roundtable,echoed Carter’s sentiment in calling the approach a “180 pivot.”
“Just having the roundtables are kind of surprising and refreshing,” said McGregor, who contributed to the political advocacy group Stand With Crypto during the 2024 campaign. “Given that we have an administration that is touting itself as pro-crypto and making some changes that need to be made, I would say those donations were strategically placed and are paying off.”
Waiting on the Fed
Trump has tapped Brian Quintenz, currently policy chief for the crypto group at venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Carter cautioned that the Federal Reserve remains a “structural holdout.” While banks can now custody crypto, thanks to the repeal of an accounting rule called SAB 121, they still can’t work directly with crypto firms “unless the Fed says they can,” Carter said.
The FDIC and OCC have rescinded their anti-crypto guidance, but the Federal Reserve has only partially followed suit. A notice from Jan. 2023 continues to restrict banks from certain crypto-related activities.
“The Fed is still the blocker for banks to deal with stablecoins for crypto,” Carter said.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
Still, the industry has largely gotten what it wants.
“It wasn’t all that long ago that we had an administration that not only was skeptical of this entirely new technology, but was in fact hostile to it,” Grewal said.“Now we have a White House and a wider administration that is not only welcoming of digital assets and blockchain-based technologies, but embracing it in a number of different ways, and that really has stood out in the first 100 days.”
Grewal also pointed to some bipartisan momentum in Congress, including bills on stablecoins and market structure.
“We’ve got one issue, it seems, where the White House, together with Republicans on the Hill, have worked together with Democrats in both houses of the Congress to get digital asset legislation on the move,” Grewal said.
Grewal praised the SEC for soliciting public input and opening the door to industry participation on topics like custody and market structure.
Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, said the administration has already met two core expectations: ending the regulatory crackdown on crypto and working with Congress to deliver clarity.
He said he’s been pleasantly surprised by the scope of the administration’s ambitions to go beyond bitcoin and to integrate blockchain technology across the broader financial system.
“They are moving much more aggressively to try to implement crypto and blockchain technology in the broader capital markets,” he said. At the SEC, he said, that includes tokenizing the equities market and examining how that fits within traditional regulatory frameworks.
Shirzad also noted that bank regulators have begun exploring blockchain-based payment systems. Beyond the $3 trillion crypto market, he said the administration’s target appears to be the $100 trillion capital markets, “and I think that’s something that people should pay close attention to.”
Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty, now president of the National Cryptocurrency Association, said internal data shows that 73% of U.S. crypto holders want to see the country become a global leader in the space.
“The government and the industry can now move out of the courtroom and invest in what the U.S. does best — innovation,” Alderoty told CNBC.
Fred Thiel, CEO of bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings, pointed to early wins for his slice of the industry. He said the administration’s support for mining technology allows companies “to strengthen the U.S. economy and grid.”
Thiel, who participated in the first White House Digital Assets Summit, praised the swift appointment of pro-crypto officials and the launch of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets.
Dan Lawrence CEO of OBM, which manages energy use for industrial-scale mining farms, said the administration’s pro-energy stance has made bitcoin a natural tool for incentivizing new power infrastructure.
“Bitcoin is a great way to incentivize the build out of that power,” Lawrence said.“It’s really great to see bitcoin being acknowledged at the federal level.”
President Donald Trump‘s attack on solar and wind projects threatens to raise energy prices for consumers and undermine a stretched electric grid that’s already straining to meet rapidly growing demand, renewable energy executives warn.
Trump has long said wind power turbines are unattractive and endanger birds, and that solar installations take up too much land. This week, he said his administration will not approve solar and wind projects, the latest salvo in a campaign the president has waged against the renewable energy industry since taking office.
“We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!”
Trump’s statement this week seemed to confirm industry fears that the Interior Department will block federal permits for solar and wind projects. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum took control of all permit approvals last month in a move that the American Clean Power Association criticized as “obstruction,” calling it “unprecedented political review.”
The Interior Department blocking permits would slow the growth of the entire solar and wind industry, top executives at renewable developers Arevon, Avantus and Engie North America told CNBC.
Even solar and wind projects on private land may need approvals from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if, for example, a waterway or animal species is affected, the executives told CNBC. The three power companies are among the top 10 renewable developers in the U.S., according to energy research firm Enverus.
The Interior Department “will not give preferential treatment to massive, unreliable projects that make no sense for the American people or that risk harming communities or the environment,” a spokesperson told CNBC when asked if new permits would be issued for solar and wind construction.
Choking off renewables will worsen a looming power supply shortage, harm the electric grid and lead to higher electricity prices for consumers, said Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon, a solar and battery storage developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, that’s active in 17 states. Arevon operates five gigawatts of power equivalent to $10 billion of capital investment.
“I don’t think everybody realizes how big the crunch is going to be,” Smith said. “We’re making that crunch more and more difficult with these policy changes.”
Uncertainty hits investment
The red tape at the Interior Department and rising costs from Trump’s copper and steel tariffs have created market instability that makes planning difficult, the renewable executives said.
“We don’t want to sign contracts until we know what the playing field is,” said Cliff Graham, CEO of Avantus, a solar and battery storage developer headquartered in San Diego. Avantus has built three gigawatts of solar and storage across the desert Southwest.
“I can do whatever you want me to do and have a viable business, I just need the rules set and in place,” Graham said.
Engie North America, the U.S. arm of a global energy company based in Paris, is slashing its planned investment in the U.S. by 50% due to tariffs and regulatory uncertainty, said David Carroll, the chief renewables officer who leads the American subsidiary. Engie could cut its plans even more, he said.
Engie’s North American subsidiary, headquartered in Houston, will operate about 11 gigawatts of solar, battery storage and wind power by year end.
Multinationals like Engie have long viewed the U.S. as one of the most stable business environments in the world, Carroll said. But that assessment is changing in Engie’s boardroom and across the industry, he said.
“The stability of the U.S. business market is no longer really the gold standard,” Carroll said.
Rising costs
Arevon is seeing costs for solar and battery storage projects increase by as much as 30% due to the metal tariffs, said Smith, the CEO. Many renewable developers are renegotiating power prices with utilities to cover the sudden spike in costs because projects no longer pencil out financially, he said.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends two key tax credits for solar and wind projects in late 2027, making conditions even more challenging. The investment tax credit supported new renewable construction and the production credit boosted clean electricity generation.
Those tax credits were just passed on to consumers, Smith said. Their termination and the rising costs from tariffs will mean higher utility bills for families and businesses, he said.
The price that Avantus charges for solar power has roughly doubled to $60 per megawatt-hour as interest rates and tariffs have increased over the years, said CEO Graham. Prices will surge again to around $100 per megawatt-hour when the tax credits are gone, he said.
“The small manufacturers, small companies and mom and pops will see their electric bills go up, and it’ll start pushing the small entrepreneurs out of the industry or out of the marketplace,” Graham said.
Renewable projects that start construction by next July, a year after the One Big Beautiful Act became law, will still qualify for the tax credits. Arevon, Avantus and Engie are moving forward with projects currently under construction, but the outlook is less certain for projects later in the decade.
The U.S. will see a big downturn in new renewable power generation starting in the second half of 2026 through 2028 as new projects no longer qualify for tax credits, said Smith, the head of Arevon.
“The small- and medium-sized players that can’t take the financial risk, some of them will disappear,” Smith said. “You’re going to see less projects built in the sector.”
Artificial intelligence power crunch
Fewer renewable power plants could increase the risk of brownouts or blackouts, Smith said. Electricity demand is surging from the data centers that technology companies are building to train artificial intelligence systems. PJM Interconnection, the largest electrical grid in the U.S. that coordinates wholesale electricity in 13 states and the District of Columbia, has warned of tight power supplies because too little new generation is coming online.
Renewables are the power source that can most quickly meet demand, Smith at Arevon said. More than 90% of the power waiting to connect to the grid is solar, battery storage or wind, according to data from Enverus.
“The power requirement is largely going to be coming from the new energy sector or not at all,” so without it, “the grid becomes substantially hampered,” Smith said.
Trump is prioritizing oil, gas and nuclear power as “the most effective and reliable tools to power our country,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
“President Trump serves the American people who voted to implement his America First energy agenda – not solar and wind executives who are sad that Biden’s Green New Scam subsidies are ending,” Kelly said.
But new natural gas plants won’t come online for another five years due to supply issues, new nuclear power is a decade away and no new coal plants are on the drawing board.
Utilities may have to turn away data centers at some point because there isn’t enough surplus power to run them, and no one wants to risk blackouts at hospitals, schools and homes, Arevon’s Smith said. This would pressure the U.S. in its race against China to master AI, a Trump administration priority.
“The panic in the data center, AI world is probably not going to set in for another 12 months or so, when they start realizing that they can’t get the power they need in some of these areas where they’re planning to build data centers,” Smith said.
“Then we’ll see what happens,” said the University of Chicago MBA, who’s worked in the energy industry for 35 years. “There may be a reversal in policy to try and build whatever we can and get power onto the grid.”
Over the weekend, Tesla began offering many Cybertruck trade-in estimated values above the original purchase price, apparently due to a glitch in its system.
Tesla offers online trade-in estimates for individuals considering purchasing a vehicle from them.
Over the last few days, Cybertruck owners who submitted their vehicles through the system were surprised to see Tesla offering extremely high valuations on the vehicle, often above what they originally paid for the electric truck.
Here are a few examples:
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$79,200 for a 2025 Cybertruck AWD with 18,000 miles. Since this is a 2025 model year, it was eligible for the tax credit and Tesla is offering the same price as new without incentive.
Here Tesla offered $118,800 for a 2024 Cybertruck ‘Cyberbeast’ tri-motor with 21,000 miles.
In this example, Tesla offers $11,000 more than the owner originally paid for a 2024 Cybertruck.
So, trade in the Foundation Series Cybertruck AWD for $11k more than I paid for it originally, re-buy an AWD with FSD for $79,490 after the tax credit.
I’d lose free supercharging for life, Cyberwheels, and white interior.
The trade-in estimates made no sense. Tesla has been known to offer more attractive estimates online and then come lower with the official final offer, but this is on a whole different level.
Some speculated that Tesla’s trade-in estimate system was malfunctioning, while others thought Tesla was indirectly recalling early Cybertrucks.
It appears to be the former.
Some Tesla Cybertruck owners who tried to go through a new order with their Cybertruck as a trade-in were told by Tesla advisors that the system was “glitching” and they would not be honoring those prices.
Tesla told buyers that it would be refunding its usually “non-refundable” order fee.
Electrek’s Take
That’s a weird glitch. I assume that it was trying to change how the trade-in value would be estimated and the new math didn’t work for the Cybertruck for whatever reason.
It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
The Cybertruck’s value is already quite weird due to the fact that Tesla still has new vehicles made in 2024, which are not eligible for the tax credit incentive, while the new ones made in 2025 are eligible.
There’s also the Foundation Series, which bundles many features for a $20,000 higher price.
All these things affect the value and can make it hard to compare with new Cybertrucks offered with 0% interest.
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Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but when dealers started discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000 back in June, I wrote that it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.
Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.
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That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.
With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.
That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states:
Jeff Belzer’s in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $39,758 ($28,032 off)
Troncalli CDJR in Georgia has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,590 MSRP for $42,697 ($24,893 off)
Whitewater CDJR in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $43,846 ($23,944 off)
Antioch CDJR in Illinois has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $44,540 ($23,250 off)
“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”
All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!
Jeep Wagoneer S gallery
Original content from Electrek; images via Stellantis.
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