White House Hosts Crypto and Prediction Markets Summit

President Donald Trump is expected to attend a closed-door gathering of cryptocurrency and prediction-market executives at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House on Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to multiple people familiar with the plans. The session, scheduled for about 2:30 p.m. ET, serves as a kickoff for the inaugural meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s new Innovation Advisory Committee the following day.

The event brings together senior figures from major crypto firms and regulators at a moment when the industry continues pressing for clearer federal rules. Bitcoin has traded sideways near $60,000 for months after falling roughly 50% from its October 2025 peak, and legislation such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act remains stalled in the Senate.

Attendees and Agenda

Invitees reported by sources include executives from Coinbase, Ripple, a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), Chainlink, Paradigm, Kalshi, and the industry group Digital Chamber. Broader reporting also points to participation linked to Gemini, Robinhood, and Polymarket through their roles on the CFTC advisory committee. Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, is also expected.

On the government side, CFTC Chair Mike Selig is slated to attend, and SEC Chair Paul Atkins is expected as well, according to an agency spokesperson cited in reports. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick may join, per some accounts.

The Wednesday meeting is intended to open policy dialogue on digital assets, innovation, and related areas ahead of the CFTC committee’s public session on Thursday. That panel, which includes CEOs and leaders from crypto, prediction markets, traditional finance, and SI firms, is set to discuss topics including “Crypto’s Regulatory Evolution: From Uncertainty to Clarity” and remaining challenges to a durable federal market structure.

Context and Background

This gathering follows the Trump administration’s earlier engagement with the industry. In March 2025 the White House held its first formal Digital Assets Summit, which drew executives including Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, the Winklevoss twins of Gemini, Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev, and Michael Saylor of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). That event came shortly after an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve and emphasized positioning the United States as a leader in digital assets.

Since then the administration has advanced stablecoin legislation (the GENIUS Act, signed in 2025) and continued work on broader market-structure rules. Progress on the Clarity Act has faced delays, with a procedural vote now eyed for mid-September and industry observers lowering odds of passage this year. Ethics questions related to the president’s personal crypto connections have also factored into negotiations.

The current meeting is more targeted than large public conferences such as the annual Bitcoin Conference or Consensus events, which routinely draw thousands of participants. It is structured as a small-group policy discussion rather than a broad industry summit. Sources describe it as a warm-up for the CFTC advisory committee’s formal work rather than a standalone mega-event.

Industry Stakes

For crypto executives the gathering offers direct access to the White House and the chairs of the two primary market regulators. Firms have long argued that inconsistent enforcement and unclear classification of tokens as securities or commodities have hindered innovation and capital formation in the United States. Prediction-market operators face additional scrutiny, including recent legal challenges over sports-betting products.

Regulators, for their part, are balancing consumer protection, financial stability, and the administration’s stated goal of making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.” The presence of both the SEC and CFTC chairs underscores ongoing jurisdictional questions that legislation would need to resolve.

Market participants will watch for any signals on the timeline for market-structure rules, treatment of decentralized finance, or further steps on the strategic reserve. No major policy announcements are expected from the closed session itself; the more substantive public discussion is scheduled for the CFTC committee meeting the next day.

As of Monday, the White House and CFTC had not issued formal confirmations or a complete public attendee list. Plans remain subject to change. The event nonetheless marks another high-level engagement between the administration and an industry that has shifted from regulatory adversary under prior leadership to a more collaborative posture under Trump.