Former president and current presidential candidate Trump used to hate cryptocurrencies and now he appears to love them. Is Trump’s crypto about-face a true change of heart of a ploy to get donations to help his presidential campaign? It makes a difference why he is doing this because if he regains the presidency the crypto world would like to know if he will be supportive as he now seems to be or will do another about-face and go back to saying that crypto is not real money!
President Trump’s Stand on Cryptocurrencies
When President Trump was in office in 2019 he said that cryptocurrencies were based on thin air and highly volatile. He went on to say that crypto assets that were not regulated helped drug dealing and other unlawful behavior. To his credit his words were prophetic when crypto winter nearly sucked the life out of the crypto world. At the time Trump was the president and expected to remain in office. He did not expect to need votes from the crypto world in order to get back into the Oval Office.
Candidate Trump’s Stand on Cryptocurrencies
Donald Trump’s about-face in regard to crypto has gone to the extent that there are rumors of a TrumpCoin! Trump-the-candidate now says that the US needs to be all in on crypto in order to keep China from dominating the crypto world and financial markets in general. At the time that Trump has been saying nice things about cryptocurrencies he has received about $3 million in crypto donations from the likes of Jesse Powell who co-founded Kraken and the Winklevoss twins who are helping process donations via the Gemini exchange.
Trump’s Plan for Who Gets Crypto Forfeitures
When someone defrauds folks in the crypto world and get caught, who gets the money? As a rule, law enforcement and the courts try to make sure that restitution of those harmed by a crime is the first priority. However, in his attempts to endear himself to the broader crypto community Trump says that he want to create a Bitcoin stockpile for the USA starting by using recovered crypto assets. Rather than using seized assets to help victims of crime the once and possibly future president is trying to buy crypto votes using those assets. Part of his argument hinges on the idea that you never sell Bitcoin. Because the US currently holds $12 billion in cryptocurrencies (203,238 Bitcoin, 50,224 Ether and 121.7 million of Tether’s USDT stablecoin). Additionally, Trump is promising to fire SEC Chair Gensler who has been busy regulating the crypto world and saying he would put “people who love crypto” in charge of the SEC. One wonders what folks who got scammed by FTX and other crypto businesses think about letting the crypto fox into the regulatory hen house. One has to wonder how commuting the sentence of Silk Road creator, Ross William Ulbricht fits into Trump’s reelection plans!
Where Does Harris Stand on Cryptocurrencies?
The Biden administration has been seen as tough on crypto. In reality, the current president has instructed the various US regulatory agencies to get their ducks in a row in regard to what crypto is, its future and the future of digital currencies. As a result the SEC and CFTC have cracked down on irregularities that have allowed crypto actors to act without regard to the rights and financial safety of their clients. To the extent that this is seen as being tough on crypto on the part of the president, some of that has rubbed off on the current Democratic presidential candidate, VP Harris. What we are currently seeing is Harris reaching out to the crypto community as she seeks to “soften” the stance of the administration in regard to cryptocurrencies. However, the former California Attorney General and prosecutor is unlikely to agree to bypassing crime victim restitution in favor of establishing a national Bitcoin hoard.