close
close

What Trump promised the crypto industry before the election


What Trump promised the crypto industry before the election

Bitcoin could hit $100,000 before launch if Trump follows through on his cryptocurrency campaign promises

As Donald Trump celebrated his expected victory at Mar-a-Lago on election night, he was joined by a number of high-profile supporters. Among them were Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick.

These three people have one thing in common: crypto.

It's an industry that Trump has barely spoken about until recently, but one that he has counted on to bring in large amounts of money for his campaign and its associated PACs. To get this money, he had to make big promises regarding the crypto industry.

On election night, digital asset markets boomed, with Bitcoin hitting a record high of over $75,000 as his victory became likely. Crypto-linked stocks like Coinbase And Microstrategy also rose in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

With a Republican-controlled Senate on the horizon, Trump faces few obstacles to establishing a more crypto-friendly platform. Here are some of the things he committed to:

Trump will headline the major Bitcoin conference

Strategic National Crypto Stockpile

In July, Trump headlined the biggest Bitcoin conference of the year in Nashville. In his keynote address, the former president said that when he returns to the White House, he will ensure that the federal government never sells its Bitcoin holdings. However, he stopped short of proposing a formal Federal Reserve for digital currencies.

“For too long, our government has violated the cardinal rule every Bitcoiner knows by heart: Never sell your Bitcoins,” Trump said during his keynote address.

Trump promised to maintain the current level of Bitcoin holdings that the US has accumulated by seizing assets from financial criminals.

“If elected, it will be the policy of my government, the United States of America, to retain 100% of all Bitcoin that the U.S. government currently owns or acquires,” he said.

Currently, the US Marshals Service regularly auctions Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies held in the country's treasury, such as Ether and Litecoin. These sales can sometimes trigger a drop in crypto prices, like earlier this year when Germany began liquidating hundreds of millions of dollars worth of confiscated Bitcoins.

How Trump was harassed with the “orange pill” by three Bitcoiners in Puerto Rico

“I will fire Gary Gensler on day one.”

Trump has vowed in public statements for months to remove Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.

“On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” Trump said, referring to the Joe Biden-appointed SEC chairman who has taken an aggressive approach to crypto regulation.

The president does not have the authority to fire the SEC chairman. Even if Trump were to appoint a new chairman, Gensler would remain commissioner of the independent agency.

During his tenure at the helm of the commission, Gensler has filed more than 100 lawsuits against crypto firms. In several interviews, the SEC chairman said he believes much of the industry already falls under his jurisdiction and that the lawsuits merely bring the sector into compliance.

Crypto firms argue that recent litigation has failed to provide the regulatory clarity the industry has sought and instead reflects gross overreach by the commission.

Trump also promised to create a “Presidential Advisory Council on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies.”

“The rules are written by people who love your industry, not hate it,” he said.

Trump has explicitly expressed his concerns about Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is widely seen as an existential threat by the crypto community.

Bitcoin rises to a new all-time high of over $75,300 after Trump's victory

All Bitcoins are mined in America

In June, in Palm Beach, Florida, about a dozen Bitcoin mining managers and experts met with Trump for an hour and a half in a small tea room at the Mar-a-Lago Club. At the closed-door session, the former president met for the first time with the technologists who secure the $1.5 trillion Bitcoin network by running large amounts of powerful machines.

The intimate meeting brought together a coalition of some of the largest private and public American miners in the industry, including representatives from Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital Holdings, Terawulf, CleanSpark and Core Scientific.

Less than four hours after Trump's roundtable concluded, the former president took to social media to extol the virtues of the Bitcoin mining business.

“Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia and the radical communist left. We want all remaining Bitcoins to be made in the USA!!! This will help us be energy dominant!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after his meeting.

Since then, Trump has reiterated this opinion several times.

“If crypto is going to be the future, I want it to be mined, minted and manufactured in the United States,” Trump said in Nashville.

“We're going to generate so much power that you're going to say, 'Please, please, President, we don't want any more power. We can't stand this!'” he added.

Fed interest rate cuts

In August, Trump said he would cut interest rates if elected.

The Federal Reserve, which determines the country's monetary policy, sets the key interest rate. It is also designed to operate independently of the White House.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell decided in September to cut interest rates by half a percentage point in his first easing campaign in four years.

Interest rate cuts and monetary easing have historically been accompanied by an increase in crypto prices because they make it cheaper to borrow money.

TD Cowen's Solomon: The regulatory environment under Trump will be more conducive to economic growth

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *