(Kitco News) – Presidential candidate Donald Trump appears intent on making crypto a key issue on his reelection platform as a report from Axios indicates that the former President is in talks to speak at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville at the end of July, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
This marks the latest development highlighting the difference in approach to digital assets from the leading presidential candidates, with many seeing President Joe Biden as decidedly anti-crypto while Trump has become a champion of causes near and dear to the hearts of those in the crypto community.
While a small number of reports have emerged suggesting that Biden’s campaign is working to soften its stance on crypto and has reached out to cryptocurrency industry players to seek guidance on “crypto community and crypto policy moving forward,” those efforts have largely been through back channels – meaning the public can only go on what reports say.
Instead of multiple stories highlighting attempts to court crypto proponents, recent reports have outlined Biden’s actions that have worked against digital assets, including his veto of the bipartisan bill that sought to overrule the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121.
This stands in stark contrast to Trump, who has expressed multiple positive statements about cryptocurrencies during campaign events. This includes recent comments that he plans to “end Joe Biden’s war on crypto” to “further secure America's future and create opportunity for young people.”
"We will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of #Bitcoin will be made in America; otherwise, other countries are going to have it,” Trump said.
He has also expressed support for the environmentally maligned Bitcoin mining industry, saying he would advocate for miners if he returns to the White House. He also warned that “Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a” central bank digital currency (CBDC).
As Trump leans further into his support of the community, Bitcoin 2024 offers a good opportunity to cement his position as a crypto advocate. It is the largest Bitcoin conference of the year and happens to take place the week after the Republican National Convention.
Trump will be joined by fellow presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent, as well as former GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
The fact that Trump’s position on crypto has changed since he was president – when he referred to Bitcoin as a “scam,” and said cryptocurrencies “are not money” and their “value is highly volatile and based on thin air” – shows that he sees the asset class as a prominent area of interest for the key younger voting block and is willing to reevaluate his perspective.
With some reports suggesting that the number of crypto holders in the U.S. is now above 50 million, and surveys showing that 33% of U.S. voters now consider crypto stance when evaluating political candidates, it's clear that cryptocurrencies have become a hot-button issue in the presidential election. Thus far, Trump has put forward the strongest effort to court these voters.
Trump touts tariffs as a way to halt de-dollarization
Addressing another issue that is top of mind for many voters, Trump said in a recent interview on the All-In podcast that the U.S. is losing influence on the global stage as more countries distance themselves from the dollar, and highlighted tariffs as a way to combat the growing trend of de-dollarization.
“I happen to be a big believer in tariffs because I think tariffs give you two things,” Trump said. “They give you economic gain, but they also give you political gain.”
“If a country is out of control and something having nothing to do with economics or having nothing to do with money coming in or money going out but other things that are very political – because there are a lot of other things involved in countries – you have tremendous power over a country,” he added. “Now, not everybody can say that, but we can because we are the big piggy bank.”
“But our piggy bank is going to get smaller and smaller all the time because we are losing power,” Trump said. “We are losing a lot of countries on the dollar. They are [dropping] like flies. If we ever lose [the reserve currency status], that’s the equivalent of losing a war. That would really make us third-world. We have lost so many countries.”
He highlighted the move away from the dollar by countries like Russia, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, calling it “a tragedy.”
“This is a big thing that’s happening against our country, and we cannot let that happen,” Trump stressed. “With tariffs, it gives you a tremendous power, as an example, not to let that happen. We say, ‘You want to do that? We are going to put tariffs on your products coming into the United States.’”
“More importantly, they tax us, we tax them. Reciprocal trade. I think we should have a Reciprocal Trade Act. If China is going to charge us 100% tariff on a car, then we should say, ‘You have to pay 100% to us,’” he said. “The Reciprocal Act is, I think, a very important thing when these countries… essentially do things to us, and we should do things to them. Basically, it should be reciprocal.”
