Donald Trump made another attempt to burnish his crypto-friendly credentials on Tuesday, meeting several Bitcoin miners at Mar-a-Lago and publicly denouncing President Joe Biden’s supposed “hatred” of the technology.
Matthew Schultz, the executive chairman of crypto mining firm CleanSpark, told Bloomberg that Trump talked up his love and understanding of cryptocurrency at the event in Florida. He also vowed to become an advocate for miners in the White House, according to Schultz.
“VOTE FOR TRUMP! Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a CBDC,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account Tuesday, referring to a central bank digital currency. “Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left,” Trump added. “We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!! It will help us be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!”
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It’s not clear how Trump believes large-scale Bitcoin mining—which notoriously involves the consumption of astonishing amounts of power—will help American energy dominance, though Schultz claimed Trump said Bitcoin miners would help stabilize energy supply from the grid. It’s also uncertain how near a CBDC is to becoming a reality, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell saying in March that “nothing like” a CBDC is “remotely close to happening anytime soon.”
The presumptive GOP nominee, who is recently reported to have promised to become “the crypto president” if he wins re-election, appears to have had a total change of heart about Bitcoin, which he likened to a “a scam” just three years ago. Trump also said he was “not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies” in 2019, saying they are “not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”
Last month, his campaign announced a new website where his supporters could make crypto donations to his joint fundraising committees. “As our President, Donald J. Trump has reduced regulations and championed innovation in financial technology, while Democrats, like Biden and his official surrogate Elizabeth Warren, continue to believe only government has the answers to how our nation leads the world,” his campaign said.
Sen. Warren (D-MA) has become an outspoken critic of the risks that crypto investing can pose to ordinary Americans as well as the technology’s use in unlawful activities—a concern that Trump, now a convicted felon, once shared. Last week, while meeting tech investors at a San Francisco fundraiser, Trump reportedly denounced Warren’s efforts “going after crypto” while referring to her as “Pocahontas.”
Trump has even sought to marry his newfound fondness for crypto with his ongoing legal troubles. He held a Mar-a-Lago dinner in May for people who bought at least 47 of his “Mugshot Edition” non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which he sold for $99 apiece.
