Any politician who claims to be friendly to cryptocurrency is often using it as a self marketing tool, to appeal to a certain crowd, but few seem to stick by it in the long run.
This is very possible. Maybe he just wanted to appear as "that guy" to the crypto crowd and get elected. I can't put anything past politicians these days. Maybe he doesn't give a shit about the industry at all.
Or maybe he is actually crypto friendly and there is nothing he can do about these strict banking regulations on crypto companies. We know the relationship politicians and banks have, so they will always make policies that favor the banks.
As an economist, let me tell you, I don't trust the government's ability to balance regulations and innovation. Past has shown us that too much regulations can strangle innovation and stunt industry growth.
What's more, the government's idea for a "white list" of registered firms seems like a quick fix to a more serious issue. Why are banks constraining or prohibiting transactions with crypto firms in the first place? Are they genuinely concerned about financial crimes or just intimidated by the industry?
At this point I don't believe they're making regulation but instead trying to drive crypto out of existence with every tool they've got. or at least make crypto so irrelevant so it don't mess up their already messed up structure.
They just use the financial crimes as an excuse, same way they use other vices to spread propaganda about crypto.
We should brace up for more news like this though because I don't believe they'll stop now.