Former President Donald Trump is asking a domestic bitcoin mining industry to develop in the US Perhaps with a bit of exaggeration, the Republican presidential candidate said on Tuesday that he wants “all the rest” bitcoin – about 2.1 million units – to be produced in the US, arguing that this would help the country to become energy independent and combat the development of a central bank digital currency.

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The announcement, made on its social media platform Truth Social, followed a conversation between Trump and Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey in front of representatives from major bitcoin mining companies CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The latest in a series of increasingly pro-crypto statements — including a pledge to defend the right to self-custody, accept crypto campaign donations, and “keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons out of your Bitcoin” — has drawn mixed reactions from crypto advocates . Perhaps this is not so surprising, given the polarization of the former president (whose favorability rating never exceeded 50%) in the US.

However, this is arguably the first time since 2019 – when Trump said he was “not a fan” of Bitcoin – that the former reality TV star missed the mark on crypto. The idea of ​​onshore bitcoin mining is very good and has been happening ever since China banned the practice in 2021. But if you take Trump literally, calling for all Bitcoin miners to be located in a single region suggests a profound ignorance about what Bitcoin is, how it works, and why it is powerful.

However, this is just an opinion. There are many others. Alex Bergeron of Bitcoin Magazine, for example, argues that Trump’s statement is a powerful signal for the importance of encryption.

“We absolutely want the most powerful man in the world to signal to all other power brokers that Bitcoin mining is a geopolitical issue. This is how you get everyone to start mining. This is how you decentralize the network,” wrote Bergeron, responding to climate change expert and Bitcoin Policy Summit co-founder Margot “jynurso” Paez.

Paez argued that centralizing hashrate production in any country – specifically one where politicians and regulators have been hostile to cryptography in recent times – is perhaps unwise. President Biden’s administration, for example, floated the idea of ​​an exorbitant 30% tax on bitcoin mining.

Either way, the hashrate is unlikely to centralize in any one region, given that there are bitcoiners all over the world, which would be difficult for even the President of the United States to stop mining.

So the real question here is whether the US attempt to dominate the bitcoin mining trade through government support or even subsidies would inspire other governments to encourage domestic mining. It’s far-fetched, but global leaders often turn to the US to set agendas. The problem is Trump’s notably low standing among so-called global leaders.

Therefore, it is difficult to say whether this campaign platform actually moves the needle on bitcoin mining. Especially since it’s impossible to say whether Trump’s pro-crypto statements should be taken as sycophantic or flattering. He is certainly a divisive figure among bitcoiners – and not just among progressives.

Many find it downright embarrassing to be friends with any politician, let alone Trump’s Napoleonic ego. Bitcoin writer and privacy advocate L0la L33tz, for example, wrote an entire essay on the issue, arguing that politicians can’t be trusted, that Trump hasn’t fulfilled many of his previous campaign promises, and that Bitcoin doesn’t even need political support.

“When your morals can be bought, you are not a patriot – you are a traitor,” wrote L33tz.

In addition to being an internally consistent view considering the “Bitcoin ethos”, it is worth noting that L33tz’s position is also probably the best optically long-term one for the industry’s development.

It may seem convenient to agree with the Republican Party’s standard-bearer, given that most political support comes from the right. But I think the opinion of someone like Marvin Ammori of Uniswap (who debated major Trump supporter Ryan Selkis at Consensus 2024 last month) – that the crypto industry should Strive to be neutral and apolitical – is probably the best strategy.

I have discussed before that it is inevitable that cryptography, as a celebrity cause, will become an issue for the right to defend and the left to vilify. But should you want it to be?

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