Republican

Donald Trump

Bitcoin

President Donald Trump

Bitcoin has surged in recent weeks, a rise some attribute to a “political shift” toward the Republican Party ahead of the United States presidential election in November. 
On Oct. 15, Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump took to X to declare that “Crypto is the future,” calling it an “incredible technology” and reiterating his intention to help the US become a global leader in digital assets.
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 <img alt="United States, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, US Elections 2024, Policy" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/01929a2c-ba31-7108-9237-0aae882f5369" title="">
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 Former US president and 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1846326266011762820" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1846326266011762820">Donald Trump</a>
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In September, analysts at the international bank Standard Chartered referred to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-will-likely-reach-200-000-end-2025-regardless-of-election-standard-chartered-exec" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Trump’s potential victory as a pump signal</a>, predicting that Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) could reach $125,000 by year’s end.
Still, Trump emerged as a major crypto advocate just a few years after he called Bitcoin a “scam,” marking a big U-turn on crypto.&nbsp;
Cointelegraph looked at Trump’s transformation from a Bitcoin critic to a major market catalyst.
<h2 id="bitcoin-s-value-is-based-on-thin-air-trump-argued-during-his-former-presidency">Bitcoin’s value is based on “thin air,” Trump argued during his former presidency</h2>
“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,” <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/president-donald-trump-tweets-opposition-to-cryptocurrencies" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/president-donald-trump-tweets-opposition-to-cryptocurrencies">Trump wrote on Twitter in July 2019</a>.
Trump also warned about the risks of “unregulated crypto assets,” saying they could facilitate “unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”
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 <img alt="United States, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, US Elections 2024, Policy" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/01929a27-5d5c-7777-8e98-9c3e7f127312" title="">
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 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192?lang=en" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192?lang=en">Donald Trump</a>
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Trump continued criticizing Bitcoin and crypto even after his presidential term ended in January 2021. At the time, X <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/08/tech/trump-twitter-ban/index.html" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">suspended</a> him from the platform, citing violations of the company’s policy against “glorification of violence.”
The former president publicly slammed Bitcoin again in July 2021, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-calls-bitcoin-a-scam-advocates-for-dollar-hegemony" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">calling it a “scam”</a> in an appearance on Fox Business. Trump justified his statement by saying Bitcoin was “another currency competing against the dollar.” He said:
<blockquote>
 “Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam […] I don’t like it because it is another currency competing against the dollar. Essentially, it is a currency competing against the dollar. I want the dollar to be the currency of the world, that’s what I’ve always said.”
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<h2 id="trump-enters-crypto-shortly-after-launching-his-2024-presidential-campaign">Trump enters crypto shortly after launching his 2024 presidential campaign</h2>
Just over a year after calling Bitcoin a scam, Trump started his gradual entrance into crypto by debuting a <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/what-are-nfts-and-why-are-they-revolutionizing-the-art-world" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/what-are-nfts-and-why-are-they-revolutionizing-the-art-world">non-fungible token (NFT</a>) collection in late 2022.&nbsp;
The NFTs were Trump’s first significant public move after <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/15/politics/trump-2024-presidential-bid/index.html" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">announcing</a> his 2024 presidential campaign in November 2022. Trump <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/us/politics/trump-nft-trading-cards-superhero.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/us/politics/trump-nft-trading-cards-superhero.html">launched</a> an online store to sell $99 digital trading cards of himself as a superhero.
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 <img alt="United States, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, US Elections 2024, Policy" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/01929a36-acfd-70bf-8684-2b4a8de669ea" title="">
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 Trump’s announcement of the NFT card collection, Collect Trump Cards. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109518512543023262" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109518512543023262">Truth Social</a>
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After raising $8.9 million on NFTs, Trump continued to open up to crypto, reportedly <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2023/08/11/donald-trump-is-invested-in-cryptocurrency/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">disclosing</a> between $250,000 and $500,000 of digital assets in a cryptocurrency wallet in August 2023.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-overtakes-harris-potus-bitcoin-blackrock-fink" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Trump leads Harris, but POTUS won’t matter for Bitcoin: BlackRock’s Fink</a>
Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1795085557715861918" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">claimed</a> Trump’s onchain holdings surpassed $10 million by May 2024.
<h2 id="trump-pitches-himself-as-the-pro-bitcoin-presidential-candidate">Trump pitches himself as the pro-Bitcoin presidential candidate</h2>
With the US presidential election less than three weeks away on Nov. 5, Trump has been positioning himself throughout 2024 as the pro-crypto candidate.
By June, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-bitcoin-miners-meet-latest-show-of-industry-support" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Trump voiced strong support for Bitcoin mining</a> and called on the government to encourage mining “all the remaining Bitcoin” in the US, declaring that this would help the country become “energy dominant.”
Also in June, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/winklevoss-twins-bitcoin-trump-biden-crypto-us-president" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">pledged $2 million toward Trump’s reelection</a>, signaling the industry’s growing support.
In September, Trump became the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/donald-trump-bitcoin-transaction-burger-nyc-bar" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">first former US president to publicly use Bitcoin</a> in a payment transaction when he <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvK2r313_XY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvK2r313_XY">purchased</a> hamburgers for BTC in a New York City bar.
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 <img alt="United States, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, US Elections 2024, Policy" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/01929a26-0970-7786-8324-fcaa4d328032" title="">
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 Trump making a Bitcoin transaction at a NYC bar. Source: YouTube
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While <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/political-shift-407-million-inflow-crypto-coinshares" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/political-shift-407-million-inflow-crypto-coinshares">Trump has been increasingly seen as a bullish signal</a> in the industry, he has not addressed his previous public criticisms of Bitcoin and crypto.
Despite Trump’s U-turn on crypto in the past few years, it remains to be seen whether he will maintain his friendly position toward the industry if he is reelected president.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/rabby-scammer-konpyl-crypto-ceo-mountain-victims/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Fake Rabby Wallet scam linked to Dubai crypto CEO and many more victims</a>

Trump’s Bitcoin U-turn: How the crypto critic became a pump signal

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Cointelegraph

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