Former U.S President and presidential nominee of the Republican Party Donald J. Trump has promised to make the U.S the “crypto capital of the planet”. Mr. Trump made this electoral promise on Saturday 27 July at the just-concluded annual Bitcoin Conference, Nashville.
The U.S to be the crypto capital of the planet; crypto prosecution would end
First, “I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world”, Mr. Trump promised. He envisioned that under his presidency “America [would] once again be a nation that protects property rights, privacy, freedom of transaction, freedom of association and freedom of speech.”
Second, Mr. Trump vowed that if voted into the White House, he would end the “persecution” of the crypto industry and the U.S would become the “Bitcoin superpower”. Mr. Trump accused the Joseph Biden administration of weaponizing government against any threat to their power, just as they have done to him. In his words, “It’s a part of a much larger pattern that’s being carried out by the same left-wing fascists to weaponize government against any threat to their power. They’ve done it to me.” If he is returned to the White House, Trump vows that “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s anti-crypto crusade [would] be over”.
Mr. Trump accused Kamara Harris, the potential Democratic nominee, of being against crypto, pointing out that Biden-Harris administration “is a fascist regime” and it “should be no surprise that these same totalitarians are hell bent on crushing crypto”. He emphasized: “The moment I’m sworn in, the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry.”
Gensler to be fired immediately, should Trump win
Perhaps the most warmly welcomed part of Mr. Trump’s list of electoral promises was when he vowed to fire Mr. Gensler on day one of stepping into office as U.S President.
Apparently moved by the roaring geers of the audience, Mr. Trump said: “I didn’t know he was that unpopular”. More emphatically this time, “Let me say it again: On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.”
Read also: Crypto firms would face more enforcement actions in the next 2 years- CFTC Chair
CBDC is a No-No; to be trumped.
Mr. Trump promised to terminate the plan by the U.S government to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
There have been serious concerns about the potential abuse of a CBDC by state actors for surveillance, potentially affecting the privacy of U.S citizens.
Moreover, Trump accused politicians in Washington, D.C., not bitcoin, as being the real threat to the U.S dollar.
A bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council to be established
Further, in order to ensure that U.S crypto regulation is “written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry”, Mr. Trump plans to establish a “Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council”, if elected into office.
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U.S Federal Government will become a bitcoin ‘hodler’ under a Trump administration
As part of a long-term strategy for bitcoin, the Trump administration will keep a digital treasure box of bitcoins. According to the U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, Mr. Trump pledges to hold (or “hodl” in crypto parlance) or stockpile bitcoin. The idea is to “supercharge the U.S. dollar” by acquiring one million bitcoins as a federal government. This bitcoin stockpile strategy is supported by four other U.S. Senators and three Senate candidates who were also guest speakers at the Bitcoin conference.
To be sure, only 21 million bitcoins will ever be mined. It would be interesting to know what Satoshi Nakamoto would think about a single country keeping a million bitcoins.
Read also: Governments with the biggest bitcoins in the world
Currently, the U.S federal government has over 200,000 bitcoins in its bag, thanks to various law enforcement operations. From time to time, such bitcoins are auctioned.
The small German state of Saxony recently sold the 50,000 bitcoins it seized from movie piracy website, movie2k, generating around $2.87 billion. According to Cointelegraph report, Saxony made a profit of over $740 million when compared to acquisition cost in January.
Read also: What will happen after all the 21 million bitcoins have been mined?
Ulbricht to get pardon
Also, Mr. Trump promised that he would commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence, if re-elected. Mr. Ulbricht is the founder of Silk Road. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking via his bitcoin-accepting Silk Road in 2015. Although when Mr. Trump had the chance to do so while in the White House, he did not. He was also against bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the pro-crypto independent presidential candidate particularly, finds Mr. Trump’s promises rather questionable, having always denounced crypto in the past.
A second chance for Trump?
Currently, there are about 50 million American crypto users. This makes the crypto population in the U.S a significant voting block. After all, elections are all about the numbers.
Mr. Trump boasts of being “the first major party nominee in American history to accept donations in Bitcoin and crypto.” According to him, his presidential campaign has raised $25 million from cryptocurrency donations in the last two months. Apparently, Trump is suggesting to his presently choking crypto audience in a relatively harsh Biden-Harris crypto climate how friendly his administration would be to the crypto industry, if voted as the U.S President the second time.
Whether Mr. Trump is only playing politics or really means to do what he has promised if elected into office, the undeniable fact is that crypto has been brought to the fore of the presidential debate of the most powerful nation on the planet. These perhaps are defining moments.
Come November, will Mr. Trump get a second chance? American eligible voters will decide in November.
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