Trump calls for “made in the USA” bitcoin as crypto enters the election chat
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It’s a (political) party in the USA… and crypto’s in the DJ booth. As the US presidential race heats up ahead of next week’s debate, crypto has for the first time taken a prominent place in the election convo. Last week, former President Donald Trump called for “all the remaining bitcoin to be made in the USA.” Trump made the statement on the day he met with execs from bitcoin mining companies Riot Platforms and CleanSpark. It’s a shift from his 2021 statement that bitcoin seemed “like a scam.”
Home grown: The US has been the largest BTC miner since 2021. About 90% of the decentralized currency’s 21M-coin supply has been mined, and anyone around the world can compete to mine the remaining 10%.
Canvassing the blockchain… Trump has embraced crypto, both as a fundraising tool and as a constituency. Last month, his campaign said it would accept crypto donations and Trump aligned himself with digital currencies, saying “if you are in favor of crypto, you better vote for Trump.” The Chamber of Digital Commerce, an industry advocacy group, has spoken positively about Trump’s coin-friendly shift. President Biden, meanwhile, hasn’t made many crypto friends:
BTCrackdown: Biden nominated SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has overseen a surge in crypto enforcement actions — up 53% last year from 2022.
Crypt-no: Biden last month vetoed a bipartisan bill that could’ve made it easier for banks to custody customers’ crypto.
2nd thought: Last week, the Biden campaign was said to be considering accepting crypto donations through Coinbase Commerce, the crypto payments service that Trump’s campaign is using.
Crypto’s up for grabs… and it’s more than just blockchains and coins. It’s also a community of developers, investors, and “degens.” And just like with any other constituency, politicians are starting to court the crypto community. This month, crypto-advocacy org Stand With Crypto said its members topped 1M and it was reported that pro-crypto PACs had raised $161M to spend on this year’s US elections. As of last year, 7% of US adults said they used crypto. That constituency could translate to real #s at the polls.