Trump's Huge U-Turn on Bitcoin as Crypto Becomes Election Issue

Suddenly — and unexpectedly — crypto has become a hot-button topic in the U.S. election.

In a significant development earlier this month, both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted in favor of proposals to scrap a controversial SEC policy that effectively limits the banking sector's ability to get involved in the digital assets space. President Joe Biden has long threatened to veto — arguing this would make it harder to protect consumers from harm. 

Meanwhile, in a sense that history is repeating itself, the SEC has relaxed its stance against the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on Ether's spot price — mirroring the long-winded and painful battle before similar products for Bitcoin were approved earlier this year.

Estimates from Statista have suggested that 16% of U.S. adults directly own crypto as of 2024 — that's more than 40 million people. The arrival of ETFs means that millions more now have indirect exposure to digital assets as well. Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump appears to have taken notice.

Back in 2021, he had described Bitcoin as a "scam" — telling Fox Business that he didn't like it "because it's another currency competing against the dollar." 

Fast forward to now, as the race to a rematch with Biden in November heats up, Trump has performed a complete U-turn on this position — perhaps sensing an opportunity to establish a point of difference against his Democratic rival… and tap into a new stream of donations in the process. On May 25, he wrote on Truth Social:

"I AM VERY POSITIVE AND OPEN MINDED TO CRYPTOCURRENCY COMPANIES, AND ALL THINGS RELATED TO THIS NEW AND BURGEONING INDUSTRY. OUR COUNTRY MUST BE THE LEADER IN THE FIELD. THERE IS NO SECOND PLACE. CROOKED JOE BIDEN, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY, WANTS IT TO DIE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH. THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN WITH ME!"

This all comes after Trump released two collections of non-fungible tokens — joining his wife Melania in doing the same — and enticing the biggest spenders with the prospect of dinner at Mar-a-Lago. In another milestone, he also unveiled plans to accept donations in a slew of major cryptocurrencies, following in the footsteps of outside candidates who did the same in 2020. 

But that's not all. Trump has also vowed to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht. He is currently serving a life sentence in federal prison after creating a darknet website called Silk Road, where Bitcoin could be used to buy illicit goods including firearms and drugs.