US election 2024
US presidential candidate Donald Trump appears at a crypto conference and promises to introduce Bitcoin as a strategic reserve currency. But how sincere are such promises?
This is original content from the Capital brand. This article will be available for ten days on stern.de. After that, you will find it exclusively on capital.de. Capital, like the star to RTL Germany.
It wasn’t long ago that former US President Donald Trump called Bitcoin a “fraud against the dollar”. Cryptocurrencies are “unregulated and can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trafficking and other illegal activities,” Trump wrote on the X platform in 2019. He is therefore “not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies”.
Today, that sounds completely different. Hardly any US politician is currently courting the scene as much as the Republican presidential candidate. Last weekend, Trump even spoke at an industry conference in Nashville, criticizing the US Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler, who is hated in the scene, and immediately suggested a national Bitcoin reserve. Bitcoin, according to Trump, stands for “freedom, sovereignty and independence from state coercion and control.” So the scene must be promoted.
Bitcoin as a strategic reserve?
Much of what Trump said in Nashville was not new. What was surprising, however, were Trump’s statements on the national Bitcoin holdings. The Republican announced that he would keep 100 percent of all Bitcoin that the US government currently owns or acquires in the future. This would serve as the core of a “strategic national Bitcoin holding.” Trump said he would be the “pro-Bitcoin president” that America needs. The industry had previously promised more, especially a firm commitment that Bitcoin would become part of the US financial reserve. Trump did not mention active purchases – and yet Trump’s statements were far more than nothing. The Bitcoin price has risen three percent since Trump’s speech, at around $69,500.
Trump also promised to set up a Bitcoin and Crypto Advisory Council in the White House. In the first 100 days of his term, the advisory council will draft “transparent regulatory guidelines for the benefit of the entire industry.” There will be rules, but they will be made by people “who love your industry, not hate it,” Trump said.
He probably didn’t mean SEC chief Gensler. The chief regulator, who will remain in office until 2026, is an avowed critic of crypto assets and is therefore no longer acceptable for Trump. Trump announced in Nashville that he would fire Gensler on his first day in office. Trump preferred to keep quiet about the fact that he probably cannot do this at all for legal reasons.
How serious Trump’s love for cryptocurrencies really is is open to serious question. Trump is an opportunist and could see an opportunity in the fact that more voters support or tolerate crypto assets than strongly oppose them. In addition, some supporters show an almost borderline religious attitude towards cryptocurrencies. However, they still lack a political preacher of the highest rank in the USA. Trump could therefore see a gap in the market here.
Trump and Bitcoin: Once a critic, now a preacher
As president (2017 to 2021), Trump was still one of the declared crypto skeptics. Cryptocurrencies are not money, fluctuate greatly in value and are based on thin air. Even after his defeat to Joe Biden, he maintained his anti-Bitcoin rhetoric. That only changed in 2022: In December of that year, Trump tried to cash in on digital crypto trading cards (NFTs) for the first time. In May 2024, he announced that he would accept crypto donations during the election campaign. According to Barron’s magazine, his campaign has already raised an estimated $4 million in Bitcoin and other tokens.
According to the Barron’s report, the Fairshake political action committee, which advocates cryptocurrency, has raised around $170 million, making it one of the largest committees of its kind this election cycle. Some venture capitalists, including investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, have said they are supporting Trump because they are unhappy with the Democrats’ crypto policies. Trump’s vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, says he is a crypto investor himself.
Trump has been courting the cryptocurrency community for the past few months. Among others, he secured the support of well-known Bitcoin investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
As a Californian, the likely Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has good connections to Silicon Valley, which could also help her build a bridge to the digital currency industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, her advisors have already contacted the cryptocurrency marketplace Coinbase and the payment service Ripple in recent days.
Source: Stern
