Regulation
How Cryptocurrencies Embraced Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Project 2025
When the pandemic hit in 2020, DJ and personal trainer Jonnie King stopped getting booked for gigs and workouts. So he turned to cryptocurrency trading, which was rapidly rising in value at the time. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s hope for me. I can make money while I’m stuck at home,’” he says.
Four years later, King is a devout believer who holds the majority of his assets in cryptocurrency. And while he voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016, due to Sanders’ focus on uplifting the working class, King is now a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, due to Trump’s recent embrace of cryptocurrency.
“I would probably say for me it’s a one-vote thing, because it’s my livelihood,” King tells TIME. “Cryptocurrency is how I store my wealth, and if [the Democrats] they’re trying to attack him, this is literally taking my money away. How do I support my family?”
The king exemplifies a growing faction from within the cryptocurrency community that supports Trump with open arms. For years, both during his presidency and after, Trump has expressed distrust of cryptocurrencies. In 2021, he went so far as to say that Bitcoin it seemed like a scam. But ahead of the 2024 election, Trump has backtracked and praised the technology. And in the past week alone, he has taken other significant steps to win over cryptocurrency faithful: He announced an appearance at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville on July 27, a new NFT project, and picked a staunchly pro-crypto vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance.
The cryptocurrency world has returned the enthusiasm. Despite the doubts that they may have with others parts of Trump’s platform OR criminal convictionsmany believe he will provide a significant boon to the industry if elected. The crypto community on X, formerly known as Twitter, is rife with pro-Trump sentiment and cryptocurrency is pouring money into Trump’s campaign. And after Trump’s shooting, Bitcoin the price has skyrocketed, apparently based on the belief that the event increased Trump’s chances of being elected.
“Trump has had an incredible and surprisingly positive impact on this space,” Kristin Smith, CEO of crypto lobbying group The Blockchain Association, told TIME. “He was not on my 2024 bingo card.”
Trump’s U-turn on Cryptocurrencies
Trump hasn’t gone into much detail about his newfound love for cryptocurrencies after so many years of criticizing them. But he has used the sector as a divisive issue, directly opposing left-wing cryptocurrency skeptics like Elizabeth Warren. And since the crypto lobby It’s well organized and flush with money, offering Trump a lot of potential money.
Trump has attended several fundraisers packed with cryptocurrency executives, who have promised to host more, according to The Washington PostCryptocurrency moguls Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss everyone donated $1M in Bitcoin to Trump, Criticizing Biden’s ‘War on Crypto’, and Trump Discussed Crypto Policy with Pro-Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur Elon Musk, According to Bloomberg(Musk has since endorsed Trump.) The price to attend a “VIP reception” with Trump at the next Bitcoin conference is a fantastic $844,600 Each.
When Trump announced that his campaign would accept cryptocurrency donations, a statement on his website said the move was part of a broader fight against “socialist government control” of U.S. financial markets. (Joe Biden hasn’t said much publicly about cryptocurrencies, but his administration has supported tougher policies designed for protect consumers)
To know more: Why Donald Trump is Betting on Cryptocurrencies
And earlier this month, The Post reported that a Trump adviser added cryptocurrency language to the Republican Party platform, which surprised longtime party members. Part of the passage read: “We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their digital assets and transact free from government surveillance and control.” (Government agencies currently use blockchain tracking to track down cryptocurrency scammers and other criminals.)
To know more: Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town
Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick JD Vance Boosts His Crypto Credibility
On Monday, Trump further energized cryptocurrency fans by choosing Pro-Crypto Senator JD Vance as his running mate. While running for Senate in 2021, Vance disclosed who owned over $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. That same year, called the cryptocurrency community “one of the few sectors of our economy where conservatives and other free thinkers can operate without pressure from the social justice crowd.” Vance also received significant funding for the campaign from pro-crypto entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
Earlier this year, Vance circulated a draft bill to overhaul cryptocurrency regulation and clarify whether specific crypto tokens should be regulated by the SEC or CFTC. Politico reported that the proposal appears to be “more industry-friendly” than previously submitted bills.
The cryptocurrency industry has widely cheered the idea of a personal Bitcoin holder potentially entering the White House next year. “Senator Vance, an emerging voice for fit-for-purpose, pro-innovation cryptocurrency legislation, is an ideal candidate to lead the GOP’s crypto principles,” Kristin Smith wrote to TIME in an email.
Project 2025 also supports the cryptocurrency industry
Looming over the election is Project 2025, a far-reaching conservative project led by the Heritage Foundation that lays out policies Trump should implement if elected, including initiating mass deportations and combating “anti-white” discrimination. While Trump Distanced same from the proposal on Truth Social, dozens of Trump allies and former administration officials are connected to the project.
The cryptocurrency industry is excited about the cryptocurrency-related language in Project 2025. The document who loves the president to abolish the Federal Reserve (whose monetary policies have long been loathed by cryptocurrency advocates) and move the United States toward a free banking system, in which the dollar is backed by a precious commodity like gold, or, as crypto enthusiasts hope, Bitcoin itself. However, there has been no indication that Trump or anyone in his administration has entertained the idea. The document also calls on regulators to clarify cryptocurrency rules, just as Vance is pushing, which could open the door to greater cryptocurrency adoption.
To know more: What is Project 2025?
Doubts Remain Over Trump’s Commitment to Bitcoin
Despite all this, there are cryptocurrency fans who are skeptical that Trump’s sudden embrace of Bitcoin will have lasting weight that goes beyond an election-year talking point. Some of Trump’s stated policy proposals, which have been described as authoritarianappear to counter Bitcoin’s anti-government, libertarian bent. For example, his demand that all Bitcoin mining be located in the United States has angered some cryptocurrency idealists, as decentralization and immunity to government pressure are a core part of the cryptocurrency mining ethos.
Moe Vela, a former Biden adviser and senior advisor to the cryptocurrency project Unicoin, is skeptical of Trump’s intentions. “It wasn’t that long ago that he was criticizing cryptocurrencies,” he says. “The cryptocurrency community tends to be a little inexperienced when it comes to legislation, policy, and politics, and I encourage them not to fall prey to flattery.”
Vela argues that “sound and balanced” regulation of cryptocurrencies is essential for the industry’s growth. “If we don’t have regulation that weeds out bad actors — and we’ve seen our fair share of bad actors — that undermines trust in the industry,” he says.
AND Vitalik Buterinthe main founder of the cryptocurrency Ethereum, wrote a blog post on June 17, warning crypto enthusiasts against voting based solely on a candidate’s stance on cryptocurrency. “Making decisions this way carries a high risk of going against the values that brought you to crypto in the first place,” he wrote.
Some surveys suggest that cryptocurrency is still an extremely niche interest. The Federal Reserve has discovered that only 7% of American adults used or held cryptocurrency in 2023, and another survey suggested that anti-crypto sentiment remains high. But the cryptocurrency industry is convinced that there could be thousands of single-issue voters, like Jonnie King, who will support Trump in the next election.
“Maybe he’s just a politician being a politician to win votes,” King says of Trump’s pro-crypto stance. “I’m not saying no man is perfect. But when Biden is campaigning on a war against cryptocurrencies, the only system that is hope for money, I don’t see that as a way out.
“If Trump can give us a little hope, even just a little hope, that’s something.”