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Is Trump’s love for cryptocurrencies genuine or just a voter-catching effort? A Washington insider weighs in
Cryptocurrency industry participants are looking for a friendly face in the White House, and former President Donald Trump seems to be capitalizing on that opportunity. The former president, now the presumptive Republican nominee, has embraced Bitcoin and other digital assets, even agreeing to speak at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Just years ago, he labeled Bitcoin “a scam against the U.S. dollar” and said that central bank digital currencies are “very dangerous.” The former president even called cryptocurrencies “a disaster waiting to happen,” noting that he’s “not a fan of them.”
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money and whose value is highly volatile and based on nothing. Unregulated cryptocurrencies can facilitate illicit behavior, including drug trafficking and other illegal activities….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
But based on his Recent CommentsIt seems he’s gone pro-crypto.
Just days after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt on July 14, former President Donald Trump returned to the spotlight at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. There, amid a crowd of supporters, he revealed his choice for vice president for the next US election: Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Vance, known for his large investments in Bitcoin and advocacy for looser crypto regulations, has been a beacon of hope for the crypto industry. He also He spoke out against the SEC’s stringent rulespushing for greater freedom to innovate.
His pro-crypto stance, reflected in his Social Media Presencehas played a significant role and is now shifting the crypto community’s favor towards Trump. Likewise, the market’s enthusiasm has been reflected in the price of Bitcoin, which has seen some decent gains immediately after the news broke.
While some speculate that Vance’s pro-crypto stance played a role in his selection, Moe Vela, senior advisor to Unicoin and a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, offers a different perspective.
Vance’s choice is in line with Trump’s “broader vision,” Vela says, though he questions the purity of that alignment, noting that it may not be driven solely by the former president’s belief in the potential of cryptocurrencies.
“I think Mr. Vance was chosen because he is very close to Trump’s distorted, nasty, disastrous vision for the future of our democracy,” Vela told crypto.news.
Former President Donald Trump’s recent moves may have sparked optimism in the cryptocurrency community, but not all of his decisions have been met with enthusiasm.
A case in point is his recent willingness to nominate Jamie Dimon as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
This was the first time Dimon had been publicly associated with a Trump administration. Their past clashes included Trump labeling Dimon a “highly overrated globalist” in a November 2023 post on Truth Social.
For his part, Dimon has already urged people to support Trump’s opponent, Nikki Haley, for the Republican nomination.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Trump said he had “a lot of respect” for Dimon, which came as a surprise. However, that didn’t necessarily indicate a firm decision; the fact that Dimon wasn’t excluded worried many in the cryptocurrency industry.
Vela sees Trump’s latest move as part of his strategic approach, calling it “political flattery and opportunism.” The former Washington insider thinks Dimon would be a good choice for the next Treasury secretary, a view not shared by cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
According to Trump, the head of JPMorgan Chase, despite being a crypto critic, has changed his stance on cryptocurrencies. Dimon, a well-known crypto skeptic, has called cryptocurrencies a tool used only by “criminals” and “drug traffickers.”
Given his previous statement about the potential shutdown of the cryptocurrency industry, concerns are now emerging about what its governance might entail. Yet, Vela calls for caution in overreacting, suggesting that people should take Trump’s words “with a grain of salt.”
It’s not yet clear whether Trump’s recent strategies could secure him a victory in this year’s election, but Vela thinks it could push President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party to adopt a more favorable stance toward digital assets.
The Biden administration has reportedly softened its stance on digital assets, although the history of cryptocurrencies suggests otherwise. In late May, reported losses The President of the United States quietly reached out to major cryptocurrency players, but nothing has materialized since.
Of course, the cryptocurrency community is not betting on the re-election of the current president, as recent data on Polymarket ShowIt remains to be seen whether cryptocurrencies will become Biden’s ace in the hole.
Nevertheless, Vela hopes that cryptocurrencies will play a bigger role in politics from now on.
“Cryptocurrencies are here to stay and will be an integral part of our future, so it is in everyone’s best interest to embrace, empower and educate about cryptocurrencies.”