- Trump has reaffirmed his pro-crypto stance in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg’s Business Week, warning if the US doesn’t take the lead in crypto, China or someone else will.
- Trump had previously been anti-crypto, having said Bitcoin “seems like a scam” and its value is based on “thin air”.
- Trump’s change of heart may be partly down to political opportunism, given that many Americans own crypto and have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s hostility to the industry.
In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg’s Business Week, Donald Trump has outlined his positions on the economy, foreign policy, immigration and—most importantly for us degens— cryptocurrency.
Essentially Trump’s economic approach, which is often referred to as Trumponomics, boils down to a suite of protectionist policies the ex-President says will increase wages and lower taxes, but which experts warn will drive inflation and increase government debt.
On crypto, Trump has performed an impressive back-flip, after tweeting during his first term as President that Bitcoin’s value is based on “thin air” and saying in 2021 that Bitcoin “seems like a scam” (to be fair he’s a man with a lot of experience with scams).
Trump now says he’ll be the “crypto president” and told Business Week he believes it’s a “practical necessity” that the US takes the global lead on crypto, warning that if America doesn’t do it—China or another competitor will—leaving the US at a substantial disadvantage.
Related: Trump Survives Assassination Attempt, Vows to Attend Bitcoin Conference
Trump Is Now Strongly Pro-Crypto, Why Is That?
In his interview with Business Week, Trump reiterated his pro-crypto stance, warning the US risks losing ground to adversaries like China if it doesn’t embrace crypto:
If we don’t do it, China is going to figure it out, and China’s going to have it—or somebody else.
Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Nominee What has driven Trump’s complete 180 on crypto? Well, he may have simply changed his mind based on what he sees as the revolutionary potential of the technology, but it’s more likely the political opportunity presented by crypto is the main factor.
Many people in the US own crypto—including Democrat voters—and the current Democratic administration has been particularly hostile towards crypto, especially through its influence over the SEC.
Speaking to Business Week, Justin Slaughter, the policy director at the crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm, said that this hostility has created a huge political opening for Trump which he has happily taken:
Given that about 20% of Democrats own crypto, per polling, and its ownership skews young and non-White, this was politically unwise.
Justin Slaughter, Policy director at Paradigm Another factor which may have influenced Trump’s stance on crypto is political donations from the industry. Trump’s campaign has reportedly received sizeable donations from crypto industry leaders including the Winklevoss twins, co-founders of Facebook and founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.
Trump has also courted the Bitcoin mining industry, having held a fundraising event with industry leaders at Mar-a-Lago last month, before his campaign declared they plan to “build a crypto army.”
What Exactly Does Trump Plan to Do For Crypto?
By now you may be thinking “Great, Trump is gonna pump my bags!” But what exactly does Trump say he will do to help grow the crypto industry? At the moment it’s all still pretty fuzzy—mostly amounting to vague policy summaries, slogans and rallying cries.
However, the most obvious place to start creating a more crypto-friendly regime is with regulation. It’s expected Trump would upend the US government’s approach to regulating crypto. Former Trump administration official, Brian Morgenstern, has suggested broad regulation will indeed be on the ex-President’s agenda if re-elected, saying:
In a Trump administration, you are not going to see bank regulators forcing banks to close bank accounts of crypto companies…He would not use the Energy Department to single out Bitcoin miners.
Brian Morgenstern, Former Trump administration official Related: Donald Trump Announces Pro-Crypto Running Mate JD Vance
While Trump has repeatedly said he will encourage the industry, it remains unclear exactly how he will do so. There aren’t currently any policy documents we can look to, but Brian Hughes, a senior Trump campaign advisor, has suggested tax arrangements could be looked at, saying:
While Biden stifles innovation with more regulation and higher taxes, President Trump is ready to encourage American leadership in this and other emerging technologies.
Brian Hughes, Senior Trump campaign advisor
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