Trump Promises the World to Bitcoin and Its Peddlers

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Republic presidential candidate Donald Trump made a series of promises to court potential

Former US President Donald Trump has made a series of promises to cryptocurrency users and exchanges in a bid to court potential voters and secure funds for his 2024 presidential campaign.

Despite previously calling Bitcoin a “scam” in 2021, Trump has now positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in the upcoming US presidential election and promised potential voters a series of crypto-friendly policies if elected.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday, Trump said he would fire US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Gary Gensler “on day one” if elected. Gensler has been leading the US government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency, and his SEC brought the charges that landed Sam Bankman-Fried 22 years in prison for stealing billions from crypto customers through the FTX exchange.

Additionally, in his nearly 50-minute keynote, Trump said he would turn the US into the “cryptocurrency capital of the world” and that the US would create a “national Bitcoin stockpile” from all the Bitcoin the country currently has and will acquire in the future.

Of course, the news has been received positively from not only those attending the convention, but other notable voices on cryptocurrency.

“Trump will say anything to get elected – but he’s said all the right things here,” said Nigel Green, CEO of UK-based financial advisory deVere Group.

“By pledging to retain all Bitcoins currently held or acquired by the US government, Trump aims to create a robust national Bitcoin reserve valued at approximately $14 billion,” Green added.

“This move is not only an economically sound move, but it also showcases a forward-thinking approach to the contemporary global financial system.”

Of course, the move would benefit those in the cryptocurrency industry, especially those involved in exchanges which enjoy big waves of Bitcoin price raises amid the relaxing of restrictions around virtual currencies.

But fewer regulations run the risk of another FTX happening, where an approximate one million customers had their money stolen, it also stands to see more people across the country see their investments into the volatile crypto market just up and vanish, leaving them with nothing like so many notable examples in the past.

Trump also claimed he would appoint a “Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council” and that the government would embark on a country-wide effort to mine cryptocurrency, which would necessitate “tremendous amounts of electricity.”

The Republican candidate said he would manage this by building more power plants and “using fossil fuels,” again alluding to plans to undo climate change regulations imposed by the Joe Biden Administration.

Harris needs to make a decision on crypto

About the Democrats, Trump claimed that his election opponent and Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris was anti-crypto. It is a clever move on Trump’s part to court crypto exchanges and promises them the world. He claimed during the convention that he had already received $25 million in donations towards his campaign, of which a portion is made up of cryptocurrency.

“Harris will need to present a clear and supportive stance on crypto to stay relevant and competitive” explained Green.

“With Trump setting a high bar with his pro-crypto policies, Harris will need to propose her own crypto-friendly agenda or risk losing ground to Trump’s bold narrative.”

Green’s comments are echoed by a group of Democrat lawmakers that, according to Reuters, sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee and Harris on the weekend, urging policy to embrace crypto.

“From an electoral standpoint, crypto and blockchain technologies have an outsized impact in ensuring victories up and down the ballot,” the letter reportedly said.

A free dark web?

The final and perhaps most bizarre promise Trump made during his keynote, was a plan to pardon hacker Ross Ulbricht, who is currently serving two life sentences for running the Silk Road dark web drug marketplace and for allegedly paying for the murders of five people.

Trump said that Ulbricht had spent “enough” time in jail, since his 2015 sentencing. Essentially, the move promises a more free internet trading scene. The transactions on the Silk Road were mostly made using Bitcoin, and the site is emblematic of the dark web trading scene.

It is important to note that drugs are not the only thing traded on the dark web via Bitcoin, with human beings also sold on certain websites, as well as hitman services, among others.

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