
Today in crypto, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a crypto working group. Phemex, a cryptocurrency exchange, has halted withdrawals after reports emerged of millions of dollars in outflows from its hot wallets, and US House Democrats want a government oversight committee to probe Trump’s crypto ventures.
Trump signs executive order for crypto working group, prohibiting CBDC
US President Donald Trump has signed his first executive order potentially affecting crypto users and industry leaders, which many expected during his first days in office.
In a televised address from the Oval Office on Jan. 23, Trump appeared with his ‘AI and crypto czar’ David Sacks, who explained the executive order to the US President.
According to Sacks, the EO established an “internal working group to make America the world capital in crypto,” with himself chairing the effort.
The order also prohibited “the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC) and asked the working group to study the potential creation and maintenance of a national crypto stockpile and a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
Phemex halts withdrawals amid $29 million of “suspicious” outflows
Phemex crypto exchange has halted withdrawals after being alerted to nearly $30 million worth of “suspicious” outflows, which raised alarms among blockchain security firms.
Phemex saw over $29 million worth of crypto transfers across multiple blockchains including BNB, Polygon, Arbitrum and Base (BASE), according to onchain security firm Cyvers.
The outflows point to “suspicious transactions” involving the Phemex hot wallets, Cyvers stated in a Jan. 23 X post:
“Over $29 million worth of digital assets have been transferred by suspicious addresses. These addresses have already begun swapping assets to $ETH.”
Cyvers’ co-founder and chief technology officer, Meir Dolev, highlighted that 125 suspicious transactions were recorded across 11 blockchains, with some assets already swapped to bypass freezing measures.
“Some of the tokens and stablecoins already have been swapped to avoid freezing.”
In response, Phemex announced on Jan. 23 that it had temporarily suspended withdrawals to conduct a comprehensive security inspection and enhance its wallet services:
“To ensure security, withdrawals have been temporarily suspended while we conduct an emergency inspection and strengthen wallet services.”
House Democrats want Trump ethics probe over crypto
Democrat Representative Gerald Connolly called on the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Republican chair, James Comer, to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures conflict with his presidential duties.
Connolly said Trump might already be cashing in profits from his World Liberty Financial (WLF) platform and the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin, potentially breaching ethical standards and creating national security risks.
He added World Liberty was “particularly troubling” due to its largest investor being Tron founder Justin Sun who the Securities and Exchange Commission charged with securities fraud.
Financial “entanglements” like this one raise “serious national security concerns” about the potential for foreign influence on US policy, Connolly added.
“Allowing such practices to persist unchecked would signal to the American people that the Oversight Committee is unwilling or unable to enforce the standards it claims to uphold,” he said.