Donald Trump's 2025 return to the White House marked a turning point for the crypto industry.
Now approaching the midpoint of his second term, the president is unlikely to remain passive as it winds down, according to ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
Speaking on a recent podcast , the veteran crypto investor shared insights into what Trump could be planning as his presidency enters its final stretch.
Related: Trump to unveil ambitious plan to make U.S. 'crypto capital'
Events that marked 2025
In the podcast, Wood and ARK's director of digital assets, Lorenzo Valente, reflected on the broader crypto market in 2025.
While they acknowledged that there were price fluctuations and flash crashes , it was also the year when regulations like the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act came into the spotlight.
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) is a landmark U.S. law enacted in July 2025 that creates the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 is a proposed U.S. legislation designed to bring a clearer regulatory structure to the broader crypto market.
It would define categories of digital assets, allocate oversight roles, and set rules for trading platforms and intermediaries.
Reflecting on institutional adoption, Valente said that the new entrants in the market are serious crypto players. He feels that their long-term plans will bring down the volatility in the crypto space.
Wood added that institutional adoption in 2025 was "very little" and that it is just the beginning.
Weighing on the probability of the four-year cycle and whether $88,000 was the low of the current cycle, Wood shared,
"If we can get by this year, this cycle, with a 30-plus percent drop [in Bitcoin] instead of a 50, 60, 70% drop, that will be a victory , "she said.
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Wood says Trump won't be a 'lame duck'
While sharing their outlook on the current year, Wood weighed in on Trump's steps towards crypto.
"2026 is, in the U.S., the mid-term elections and President Trump does not want to be a lame duck,"Wood said. " He wants to have one or two more productive years."
Wood predicted that Trump, alongside his crypto and AI czar David Sacks, would focus on several key initiatives.
One of them is implementing a de minimis tax exemption for crypto transactions.
A de minimis tax exemption would allow small personal transactions using digital assets to be exempt from capital gains taxes.
In the U.S., every crypto sale, even buying a cup of coffee with Bitcoin, is currently a taxable event if the asset's value has changed.
The proposed de minimis threshold, often set between $200 and $600, would eliminate this burden by exempting low-value transactions.
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Another initiative, Wood added, will be purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) for the U.S. Strategic Reserve.
The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is a policy initiative launched by Trump in March 2025 through an executive order that aims to make Bitcoin a reserve asset of the government.
Under the plan, the U.S. currently has mostly seized Bitcoin in the reserve. Wood believes, Trump would start buying them, which would increase the "scarcity value" of Bitcoin.
She added that Trump's crypto strategy could play a significant role in shaping the midterms, even though he himself is not on the ballot.
Wood also noted the Trump family's deepening ties to digital assets, from Eric and Donald Jr.'s A merican Bitcoin to the decentralized finance protocol World Liberty Financia l (WLFI) , signaling that crypto remains a central theme in their political and business ecosystem.
Related: Wall Street bank warns midterms could delay market structure bill until 2027
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jan 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
