Republican presidential hopeful and convicted felon Donald Trump billed himself as a "crypto president" at a fundraising event Friday, according to those present.
A report in Reuters cited attendees at the fundraiser who claimed Trump had espoused pro-crypto views at the event. "He said he would be the crypto president," said Trevor Traina, ambassador to Austria during Trump's presidency.
While Trump didn't offer any specifics on his crypto policies, he reportedly indicated that, "the Biden-Gensler crusade against crypto will grind to a halt within one hour of a second Trump administration," according to Jacob Helberg, senior policy adviser to the CEO of data analytics provider Palantir.
Among those reported as attending the fundraiser were executives from crypto exchange Coinbase, and Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
Crypto Owners a Growing Force Heading into 2024 Election: Galaxy Digital
Voters who hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could have a decisive impact in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to the latest market commentary released this week by Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency financial services firm. The report points to recent polling showing growing crypto ownership, especially among younger voters and communities of color, and argues these "crypto voters" could determine the outcome in a close race between President Biden and former president Dona...
Crypto has become something of a hot-button issue in the upcoming election. Last month saw a bipartisan consensus aligning around a key crypto regulation bill, swiftly followed by the surprise approval of multiple U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs, in what crypto industry figures called a "game changer" for crypto.
"My guess is that this is now an extremely important political issue," Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin told Decrypt, arguing that crypto has graduated to a higher status where American politicians have been forced to sit up and take notice.
At the time, crypto industry lobbyists suggested that the passing of a bill with bipartisan support to repeal the SEC rule SAB 121, which President Joe Biden had threatened to veto, had changed the political calculus.
He Went Viral for Asking Trump a Question—Did It Save Crypto in the US?
Unexpected moments can have surprising ripple effects. This was vividly illustrated when a pair of NFT builders from DeGods project creator DeLabs—founder Frank (aka Rohun Vora) and Chief of Staff Malcolm—visited Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month for an event for Trump NFT holders, and went viral for asking the former president a crypto-related question. The exchange not only captivated online audiences, but has also convinced some industry observers that they helped influence...
Yet earlier this month, Biden followed through on his threat, arguing that, "This reversal of the considered judgment of SEC staff in this way risks undercutting the SEC's broader authorities regarding accounting practices."
Meanwhile, Republicans have sought to position themselves as the pro-crypto party, with Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, decrying "hostility towards crypto" and accepting Bitcoin donations.
PolitiFi meme coins saw little movement following the report of Trump's fundraiser, with the MAGA (TRUMP) coin up 7% on the day, even as other Trump-themed coins such as MAGA Hat (MAGA) and TREMP traded down.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
