Donald Trump Takes Pro-Bitcoin Stance: Former President Says ‘I Can Live With It’

Donald Trump’s recent comments on crypto have users of the top Bitcoin betting sites relishing. But Trump’s actions speak even more loudly. 

February’s been an amazing month for cryptocurrency investors.

The price of Bitcoin has shot up from just under US$43,000 to just over $53,000 during these past four weeks, with analysts from Swissblock projecting $57,000-58,000 as the next target in their Monday market update.

Is it because of Donald Trump?

As we go to press, the former president is the +105 favorite at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) to win the White House in 2024; Trump has also softened his anti-crypto stance in recent weeks, telling Fox News before the South Carolina primary that he “can live with it one way or the other.”

This is all great news if you focus solely on the price of Bitcoin. And while this wasn’t the full-throated endorsement Trump’s crypto-savvy supporters have been hoping for, his actions behind the scenes speak volumes about Trump’s true feelings – and possible intentions.

What Did Donald Trump Say About Bitcoin?

Trump was never a big fan of crypto during his presidency, even calling it a “scam” while touting the almighty U.S. dollar as his favorite currency.

He’s still into greenbacks, but when Trump spoke to Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham at the February 20 town hall event in South Carolina, he said that Bitcoin “had taken a life of its own,” and that “many people are embracing it.”

Trump didn’t quite go the full mile when it came to easing regulations on crypto. But he did make this very interesting observation:

Donald Trump was asked about #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/bLA8TMMy5g

— Pledditor (@Pledditor) February 23, 2024

Perhaps Trump is referring to the people donating to his cause, and their preferred method of deposit – House Republicans have a payment-processing deal with Coinbase.

Or maybe this is an olive branch to the crypto lobby, which is hard at work shaping Republican policy for Trump’s potential second term in office.

Either way, Trump’s comments weren’t a bombshell by any means.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told Politico back in January that Trump “will be a lot more friendly to the crypto industry,” as the partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats brings more cryptocurrency users into the GOP fold.

Does Donald Trump Own Any Crypto?

It’s hard to say exactly what Trump has under which shell, but in 2022, Trump debuted a series of NFTs called Trump Digital Collectible Cards; they sold like hotcakes, and while sales for the second series released the following April were much more tepid, official documents showed Trump holding Ethereum worth $2.8 million in a crypto wallet as of August 2023.

Last December, The Street reported that Trump had sold $2.4 million in ETH, not long after the release of his third series of NFTs – the “Mug Shot” collection, which has also sold poorly.

This left him with $2.2 million in the following coins:

• ETH ($1.4 million)
• WETH ($649,000)
• MAGA ($167,000)
• Pepecoin ($340)
• JESUS ($145)

As reported by Coinbase, there was another $500,000 in Ethereum revealed in a separate filing to the U.S Office of Government Ethics, dated last April 14. That may or may not be baked into the numbers you see above, but either way, Trump has indeed been living with crypto for a while now.

Will Donald Trump Save Bitcoin?

Not that Bitcoin needs a savior, but if Trump is elected, he has vowed to “never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency,” referring to the proposed U.S Federal Reserve digital dollar.

CBDCs are gaining steam across the globe, with coins already launched in 11 countries and 21 more pilot projects underway – including the digital renmenbi (China) and the digital rupee (India). The digital dollar is said to be in the “development” phase, but that’s as far as it’ll get if Trump has his way.

Emmer, the aforementioned Majority Whip, presented the Central Bank Digital Currency Anti-Surveillance State Act to the House last September. This revised bill included a ban on “intermediated CBDCs,” which would be used within the commercial banking sector rather than by public individuals. Republicans see these coins as a pathway to a social credit system not unlike China’s.

These efforts won’t come to anything as long as the Democratic Party holds the presidency and the Senate. But they’ll almost certainly be implemented if Trump comes to power, and the Republicans hold both houses. In theory, that would further solidify Bitcoin’s place as the world’s leading cryptocurrency – but at what cost?