Donald Trump: US Government Should Hold Onto Bitcoin

GhSo...taPv

6 Aug 2024

Former President Donald Trump has made a new statement, continuing his initiative to use Bitcoin to wipe out the US national debt.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made a new analogy for cryptocurrencies, in a “stormy” day for the market.

Trump had a conversation with Adin Ross, a popular video game streamer on Twitch before being banned from the platform for repeatedly using offensive language.

Ross mentioned the US government’s recent crypto sales and asked Trump if he would still support cryptocurrencies if he wins the election in November. Trump replied:

“They shouldn’t do that, they should focus on developing crypto. If we don’t embrace crypto, China and other countries will, and they are doing it.”

As reported, last week, a wallet labeled as belonging to the US government transferred $2 billion worth of Bitcoin to an unknown address. Bitcoin immediately lost $3,500 in value. This was part of the Bitcoin seized by the US Department of Justice from the former Silk Road black market. As of now, the US government owns about $11.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency.

At the meeting, Trump also called crypto a “very advanced currency” and compared it to artificial intelligence (AI).

“It’s like AI — ‘Do you love it or not?’ — if we don’t develop it, China or some other country will, and we can’t be left behind. Crypto belongs here."

Donald Trump reversed his stance on crypto earlier this year and reaffirmed his stance at the recent Bitcoin 2024 conference, one of the industry's largest. His appearance there alone helped Trump raise an additional $21 million for his re-election campaign. The former president has expressed his ambition to make the United States a Bitcoin mining superpower and has vowed to keep Bitcoin in the United States if elected.

Bernstein experts noted:

"It now seems clear that crypto is no longer a federal issue. We believe that the cryptocurrency market will react completely to political developments until the election results in early November."

In an interview with FOX Business on August 2, Mr. Trump also shared the idea of using Bitcoin to eliminate the US public debt. However, even if the US buys all the Bitcoin on the market, it will still not be enough to pay off the $35 trillion public debt, at least at the current BTC price.

Also at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, Senator Cynthia Lummis suggested that the US should invest in BTC to pay off long-term debt. The female politician said that the US should buy 1 million BTC for the national Bitcoin reserve fund within the next 5 years.