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Donald Trump Nearly Endorses Bitcoin: “I Can Live With It”
- Donald Trump, like many other American figureheads, has backflipped on Bitcoin, suggesting that he “can live with it”.
- The presidential candidate spoke about the digital currency at a televised townhall in North Carolina last week.
- The statement marks a change of heart for Trump, who previously had been one of Bitcoin’s most vehement critics.
- However, Trump is still firmly against central-backed digital currency, despite increasing research in this space (particularly in the EU).
US presidential candidate Donald Trump has come as close to endorsing Bitcoin as a long-time hater can get. The ever-polarising American figure spoke to the media last week as the upcoming election race heats up. At a townhall meeting in Carolina televised to the public, Trump was quizzed on his potential BTC-related policies if he were to be re-elected this November. His response was, to the delight of crypto fans, a little surprising.
Trump’s Long Timeline of Anti-Crypto Comments
Trump has been a political figurehead in the United States even before he was elected president in 2016, but since then, his comments have undoubtedly held greater weight in the public eye – for better or worse. The candidate has a hefty list of quotes between 2019-21 that suggest he isn’t exactly the biggest “fan” of Bitcoin.
As we all know, D.J. Trump was a big fan of posting on X (formerly Twitter). One of his most outspoken tweets during his presidential reign made his feelings toward BTC very clear:
However, that was not the end of his anti-crypto tirades. A few years later amid the 2021 bull run, Trump doubled down.
Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam. I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.
Donald Trump Trump still maintains his love for the dollar, saying just last week that “I’ve always liked one really powerful thing, and that’s called the dollar”. The threat that digital currencies have supposedly posed to the US dollar has long been a sore spot for regulators and high-profile politicians. However, Trump’s position appears to have shifted after the SEC’s approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
Speaking at the North Carolina townhall, he said:
Many people are embracing [Bitcoin]. And more and more, I’m seeing people wanting to pay Bitcoin. And you’re seeing something interesting, so I could live with it…one way or the other.
Donald Trump This suggests that Trump, like many others in the United States, is coming to terms that Bitcoin and the USD don’t necessarily have to be competing and that they can potentially prop one another up.
The news comes as Bitcoin roared past its 18-month high to sit at USD $57K (AUD $87K) in anticipation of the impending BTC halving.
Author
Ben Knight
Ben Knight is a writer and editor from Melbourne with a passion for all things music and finance. He enjoys turning complex topics – especially the technical details of cryptocurrency – into digestible bites that anybody can understand. He acquired his Master’s in Writing, Editing and Publishing from RMIT in 2019 and has run his own creative writing business ever since.
