Tech
Trump declares he wants to become “cryptocurrency president” in the 2024 election campaign and promises to revolutionize the digital currency landscape
- Former president and current Republican candidate, Donald Trump has sought to position himself as the “crypto president” for his 2024 campaign.
- Trump billed himself as an industry champion at a fundraiser in San Francisco attended by prominent technology and cryptocurrency leaders, raising $12 million for his campaign.
Famous bully, convicted felon, former president of the United States and current presidential candidate, Donald Trump has declared himself a champion of the cryptocurrency industry at a Tech Brothers fundraiser held in San Francisco on June 6.
Reuters reports that Trump raised $12 million (S$18.2 million) at the fundraiser organized by tech venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya. Event attendee Trevor Traina, a San Francisco-based technology executive and Trump’s former ambassador to Austria, said:
He said he would be the president of cryptocurrencies.
Trump Pro-Crypto, But No Policy Coming
Specific policy details were scarce at the event, but Trump apparently described the cryptocurrency industry as important, said he supported it, and criticized the current administration’s regulatory approach.
Adviser to data analytics provider Palantir, Jacob Helberg, said Trump “has made it clear that the Biden-Gensler crusade against cryptocurrencies will stop within an hour of the second Trump administration.”
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has long been the bane of the cryptocurrency industry, accused of failing to provide clarity and a regulatory agenda through enforcement. Current President Joe Biden has also been seen as an obstacle to the sector, having vetoed a bill overturn SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin 121.
Biden has also expressed opposition to the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) which passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support in May, although he said he would not veto it.
Related: Standard Chartered says Donald Trump’s presidential victory could boost Bitcoin
Can we trust Trump’s backtracking on the cryptocurrency “scam”?
It’s fair to be cynical about Trump’s latest move to embrace cryptocurrencies ahead of the election, given his past comments, including calling Bitcoin a “scam.” He previously tweeted that he is “not a fan” of digital currencies and that they are “based on nothing” and “facilitate illegal behavior” (a bit rich, huh?).
But the cryptocurrency industry is pushing hard for political support, so Trump’s endorsement was welcomed by many. About 80 conservative tech elites attended the recent sold-out fundraiser in San Francisco:paying up to $300,000 each for the honor, including Coinbase executives and the Winklevoss twins.
According to Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican National Committee member from California and a San Francisco-based attorney who serves as the Trump campaign’s official legal surrogate, Trump did not talk about his felony convictions in May, but alluded to the justice system during the event:
He said there were some terrible judges out there. He didn’t go into specifics; he knows he is under gag order. He said that Republican judges do everything, they go out of their way to appear honest, to be honest towards the other side.
Trump was convicted of 34 counts of first-degree forgery of business records, a hush-hush scheme designed to cover up allegations made by adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. It’s the first time a president of the United States is convicted of a crime. Trump will be sentenced in July and faces prison time, although many agree that is unlikely.