Participants in the cryptocurrency sector are looking for a friendly face in the White House, and former president Donald Trump seems to be leveraging this 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 central bank digital currencies are “very dangerous.” Trump even called cryptocurrencies “a disaster waiting to happen,” stressing over the fact that he is “not a fan of it.”
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
But based on his recent comments, he seems to have gone pro-crypto.
Days after a narrow escape from an assassination attempt on July 14, former President Donald Trump stepped back into the limelight at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. There, amidst a crowd of supporters, he unveiled his vice-presidential choice for the upcoming U.S. election: Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
Vance, known for his substantial Bitcoin investments and advocacy for relaxed crypto regulations, has been a beacon of hope for the crypto sector. He has also spoken out against tough SEC rules, pushing for more freedom to innovate.
His pro-crypto stance, reflected in his social media presence, has played a significant role in shifting the crypto community’s favor toward Trump. Likewise, the market’s enthusiasm was reflected in Bitcoin’s price, which recorded some decent gains soon after the news surfaced.
While some speculate Vance’s pro-crypto stance played a role in his selection, Moe Vela, former senior advisor to Joe Biden, offers a different perspective.
Vance’s selection aligns with Trump’s “broader vision,” says Vela, though he questions the purity of this alignment, pointing out that it might not be driven solely by the former President’s faith in crypto’s potential.
Former President Donald Trump’s recent moves may have sparked optimism in the cryptocurrency community, but not all his decisions have been met with enthusiasm.
A case in point is his recent openness to appointing Jamie Dimon as the U.S. Treasury Secretary.
This marked the first time Dimon had been publicly linked to a Trump administration. Their past conflicts included Trump labeling Dimon a “highly overrated globalist” in a November 2023 post on Truth Social.
For his part, Dimon has previously urged people to support Trump’s opponent, Nikki Haley, for the Republican nomination.
During a recent Bloomberg interview, Trump said he has a “lot of respect” for Dimon, which came as a surprise. However, this didn’t necessarily indicate a firm decision; the fact that Dimon wasn’t being ruled out worried many in the crypto sector.
Vela perceives Trump’s latest move as part of his strategic approach, calling it “political pandering and expediency.” The former DC insider thinks Dimon would be a good fit for the role of the next Treasury secretary, an opinion not shared by crypto enthusiasts.
According to Trump, the JPMorgan Chase chief, while a crypto critic, has allegedly changed his stance towards crypto. Dimon, a well-known crypto skeptic, has called cryptocurrencies a tool used by “criminals” and “drug traffickers.”
Given his past statement about potentially shutting down the cryptocurrency sector, concerns are now emerging about what his governance might entail. Yet, Vela urges caution in overreacting, suggesting people take Trump’s words “with a grain of salt.”
It remains unclear whether Trump’s recent strategies could win him the election this year, but Vela thinks this could pressure President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party to adopt a more favorable stance towards digital assets.
The Biden administration has reportedly softened its stance on digital assets, although the pages of crypto history suggest otherwise. In late May, leaks indicated the U.S. President was quietly reaching out to major players in the crypto space, but nothing much has materialized since.
Naturally, the cryptocurrency community isn’t betting on the current president being re-elected, as recent figures on Polymarket show. Whether crypto becomes an ace up Biden’s sleeve is yet to be seen.
Nonetheless, Vela hopes crypto will play a bigger role in politics from here on.
“Crypto is here to stay and an integral part of our future, so it is in everybody’s best interest to embrace, empower, and educate as it relates to cryptocurrency.”
