Press Sec: crypto capital, opposes central bank digital currency; Dems waited 4 YRS TO BRING Epstein

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed two major crypto-policy moves. First, the GENIUS Act is moving toward the president’s desk — “This piece of legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world.” Second, the administration remains opposed to a central bank digital currency: “He made that promise to the American people on the campaign … he did sign a January executive order banning a central bank digital currency.” The administration also supports a de minimis exemption that would allow small crypto transactions — buying a cup of coffee — without the tax friction that currently makes such use impractical. Rep. Tim Burchett tore into Democratic Epstein-files opportunism: “If the Democrats were serious about this issue, they wouldn’t have waited four years to bring it up. This is all politics.” Senate Democrat Ron Wyden alleged that “somewhere in the Treasury Department … locked away in a cabinet drawer” is “a big Epstein file that’s full of actionable information.” Burchett countered that “a lot of the evidence has either been tampered with or destroyed.”

De Minimis Exemption for Crypto

Leavitt opened with one of the less-discussed but operationally important crypto-policy proposals. “The president did signal his support for a de minimis exemption for crypto and the administration continues to be in support of that.”

Currently, every cryptocurrency transaction — even a tiny one — can trigger capital gains tax reporting. That means buying a cup of coffee with Bitcoin technically creates a taxable event, requiring the user to track the cost basis of the specific satoshis spent and report the gain or loss. In practice, this makes small-value crypto transactions impractical for ordinary use.

“We are definitely receptive to it to make crypto payments easier and more efficient for those who seek to use crypto as simple as buying a cup of coffee. Of course, right now that cannot happen, but with the de minimis exemption, perhaps it could in the future and we will continue to explore legislative solutions to accomplish that.”

A de minimis exemption — a threshold under which small crypto transactions would be exempt from capital gains reporting — would unlock everyday retail crypto use. Proposals in Congress have suggested thresholds around $200 per transaction. Whether the legislation Leavitt describes lands at that threshold or a different one, the principle is the same: remove the tax friction from small-value payments to make crypto a realistic medium of exchange for ordinary purchases.

The GENIUS Act

Leavitt then pivoted to the day’s headline crypto legislation. “As for the central bank digital currency and the genius act, which you noted has passed through Congress and will be sent to the president’s desk.”

The GENIUS Act — Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins — is the framework legislation that establishes federal standards for dollar-backed stablecoin issuers. It clarifies regulatory jurisdiction, sets reserve requirements, establishes consumer protection standards, and creates a federal registration pathway for stablecoin issuers.

The political context is significant. The stablecoin market had been growing rapidly without clear federal regulation. Issuers like Circle (USDC) and Tether (USDT) operated under a mix of state money-transmitter licensing and general financial services oversight. The GENIUS Act moves stablecoin regulation to the federal level with specific, industry-designed rules.

“I believe the house is voting on it. If they haven’t, they should be passing it. We know we have the votes and we expect it to get to the president’s desk and we are planning a signing ceremony tomorrow afternoon. All of you will get more details on that.”

The signing ceremony framing is the administration’s commitment to making the GENIUS Act signing a major media event. Crypto industry leaders have been positioned for the photo op. The legislation is bipartisan in substance — major Democrats voted for it — but the administration is making sure the political credit lands in the Trump column.

”America the Crypto Capital of the World”

“This piece of legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world. And that’s what the president promised.”

“Crypto capital of the world” is the promise Trump made repeatedly during the 2024 campaign. The campaign’s embrace of the crypto industry — addressing the Bitcoin 2024 conference, promising an executive order on crypto on day one, accepting crypto donations — was a notable shift from the skepticism the industry had faced under the Biden administration.

The GENIUS Act is, in part, the deliverable on that promise. It is not the whole deliverable. More legislation on market structure (which governs tokens that are not stablecoins — the FIT21 framework in Congress), on tax treatment (which is where the de minimis exemption fits), and on banking access (removing Operation Choke Point 2.0-style pressure against crypto firms) are still to come. But the GENIUS Act is the first major legislative win.

”The President Opposes” the CBDC

Leavitt restated the administration’s position on central bank digital currencies with unusual emphasis. “As for a central bank digital currency, the president opposes that. He made that promise to the American people on the campaign.”

A central bank digital currency — CBDC — would be a digital dollar issued directly by the Federal Reserve, accessible to individuals and businesses. CBDC proponents argue it would modernize payment infrastructure and reduce reliance on private payment rails. CBDC opponents argue it would give the federal government unprecedented surveillance and control over individual transactions, enabling programmable money that could be restricted, expired, or blocked based on government determinations.

The Trump-aligned crypto position has consistently been that private, permissionless cryptocurrencies are preferable to government-issued digital currencies. A CBDC is, in that framing, the opposite of what the crypto movement has been building toward.

“And while it’s not in this specific piece of legislation, he did sign a January executive order banning a central bank digital currency. The administration supports Congress’s efforts to codify that executive order into law.”

The executive order was one of the earliest crypto-related actions of the second term. The administration’s support for codifying it into law is the strongest possible CBDC prohibition — one that could not be reversed by a future executive order.

Burchett: “Four Years to Bring It Up”

Rep. Tim Burchett responded to the Democrats’ sudden interest in the Epstein files with a direct political accusation. “Is there an agreement at this point? No, ma’am. There’s not. And honestly, if the Democrats were serious about this issue, they wouldn’t have waited four years to bring it up. This is all politics.”

The timing argument is devastating. For four years during the Biden administration, Democrats did not push for public release of the Epstein files. Now, with Trump in office, the files have become a Democratic talking point. Burchett’s framing: if Democrats genuinely cared about the substance, they had four years to pursue it.

“I’ve known a few criminals in my life. Heck, I’ve served in an elected office with a few of them. And they don’t keep a list of their criminal activities. And Trump’s not on this list because he was. Biden would have released it the first day.”

The Biden-would-have-released-it argument is the logical test. If the Epstein files contained anything damaging to Trump specifically, the Biden administration — with full control of DOJ and the documents — had every political incentive to release that material during the 2024 campaign. That the files were not released at that moment is, in Burchett’s framing, evidence that the material damaging to Trump does not exist.

”Like the Kennedy Assassination”

Burchett added a pessimistic coda. “So it’s a lot of politics and a lot of hype. We just need to get to the bottom of it, ma’am. And unfortunately in this town, when it’s delayed, it’s kind of like the Kennedy assassination. We’re never going to get to the bottom of it.”

The Kennedy assassination reference is the congressman’s framing for what happens when scandals involving powerful people get slow-walked through federal processes for decades. Evidence deteriorates. Witnesses die. Institutional memory fades. By the time the truth is pursued seriously, the trail is too cold to fully reconstruct.

Burchett’s implication: whatever was actually in the Epstein files has, through multi-year delay, likely been compromised to the point that a definitive account is no longer recoverable.

Wyden’s Treasury File Claim

The reporter then raised Senator Ron Wyden’s specific allegation. “We’ve been talking about the attorney general and that it would be, you know, this isn’t the purview of the DOJ. But Ron Wyden, who’s the top Democrat in the Senate Finance Committee, is saying that there are files somewhere else, right? Which would mean, I guess in this case, Secretary Scott Besant, who would be in charge of them, because he says that there are files at Treasury with a lot of this information.”

Wyden’s framing, as quoted: “Somewhere in the Treasury Department, Mr. President, locked away in a cabinet drawer, it’s a big Epstein file that’s full of actionable information. Follow the money details about his financing and operations that await investigation.”

That is a specific allegation. Wyden is saying that Treasury — not DOJ — holds the most operationally important Epstein material, specifically financial flows that have not been investigated. Treasury under Scott Bessent now controls that file.

”I Have No Idea”

Burchett’s response to the Wyden allegation was direct. “Ma’am, I have no idea. But the problem you have is it’s been delayed so much that I think a lot of the evidence has either been tampered with or destroyed. And that’s really what bothers me.”

Whether evidence has been tampered with or destroyed in the multi-year period since Epstein’s death is a question with no clear answer. What is known is that evidence chains of custody — particularly for seized electronic devices — have been the subject of ongoing legal contention. Whether the underlying financial records at Treasury remain intact and actionable is, as Burchett acknowledges, beyond his direct knowledge.

“Over the last four years, we should have had this thing out there and it should have been brought forward. And that’s why I believe that we’ll never really get to the bottom of it. And that’s, they’re going to deal with it on the other side. And when they meet their creator, and I hope it’s soon for some of them.”

The closing “when they meet their creator” line is Burchett’s theological framing. If earthly justice cannot sort the Epstein affair out, the accused will face divine accounting. That is unusual language for a congressman to deploy on camera, and it reflects the depth of his frustration with the inability of American institutions to close the Epstein story with clarity.

Two Stories, One Institutional Theme

The crypto legislation story — the GENIUS Act, the de minimis exemption, the CBDC prohibition — is a story of institutions catching up with a rapidly developing industry. The Epstein story is the opposite — institutions failing to produce clear outcomes on a case that has been in the public eye for six years.

The administration’s position on crypto is decisive — pro-industry, pro-stablecoin, anti-CBDC. The administration’s position on Epstein, by necessity, is more cautious — the files reside across DOJ and Treasury, the chain of custody is fraught, and political opportunism is visible on both sides of any release decision.

Those two postures together define how the administration is navigating simultaneous legacy and forward-looking decisions in the financial system.

Key Takeaways

• Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: the GENIUS Act stablecoin framework has passed Congress and will be signed — “This piece of legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world.”
• The administration supports a de minimis exemption to remove tax friction from small crypto transactions — “as simple as buying a cup of coffee.”
• On central bank digital currencies: “The president opposes that” — with a January executive order already banning CBDCs, and the administration supporting “Congress’s efforts to codify that executive order into law.”
• Rep. Tim Burchett on Epstein: “If the Democrats were serious about this issue, they wouldn’t have waited four years to bring it up. This is all politics … Trump’s not on this list because he was. Biden would have released it the first day.”
• Sen. Ron Wyden claims “somewhere in the Treasury Department … locked away in a cabinet drawer, it’s a big Epstein file that’s full of actionable information” — Burchett: “a lot of the evidence has either been tampered with or destroyed.”