Donald Trump just made it clear that he’s the pro-crypto candidate. At a Wednesday night bash at Mar-a-Lago, he rallied supporters with a bold statement, “If you’re in favor of crypto you’re gonna vote for Trump because they want to end it,” pointing his finger at the Democrats and President Joe Biden.
The former president, once a critic of cryptocurrencies, has flipped his stance and is now pitching himself as the champion for the crypto community. He even promised to accept crypto donations for his campaign, making a strong pivot from his previous skepticism.
Trump’s Crypto Flip
Back when Trump was in office, he wasn’t shy about his disdain for digital currencies, famously tweeting that they were “based on thin air.” But fast forward to now, and he’s selling NFTs and backing crypto like it’s the future. During the event, Trump took the stage, dripping with sweat alongside his supporters, some of whom shelled out $10,000 for Trump Trading Card NFTs just to be there.
Amid the Florida heat, Trump spoke for nearly an hour, turning the niche issue of crypto into the night’s main focus. He admitted he’s no crypto guru but claimed he’s good at selling them, deciding that makes him the right guy to push crypto forward.
As Trump sees it, despite what critics say, crypto has made it big, and he’s all in. While he chatted about central bank digital currencies and government blockchains, which many crypto fans don’t like, he shrugged it off saying, “I think it all has its place.” His pitch was clear: he may not know everything about crypto, but he supports it and that should count for something.
Biden vs. Trump on Crypto
The same day Trump was rallying at Mar-a-Lago, Biden was promising to fight against crypto-friendly changes in SEC rules. Trump didn’t miss a chance to throw jabs at Biden, claiming the President doesn’t even grasp what crypto is. “If you ask Biden, ‘Sir, are you for or against crypto?’ he’ll say, ‘What’s that? Get me off the stage,'” Trump mocked. Then he hit at SEC chairman Gary Gensler, suggesting he’s part of the problem too.
But Trump’s event wasn’t just talk. He argued that with 50 million crypto holders in the U.S., his pro-crypto stance could win him a lot of votes. The crowd at Mar-a-Lago, a mix of VIPs and regular attendees who paid hefty sums to hear him, seemed to agree. Trump even brought Ryan Selkis, CEO of the crypto platform Messari, on stage, hinting at big support from the crypto community.
The debate over crypto isn’t just a technical one; it’s political. Trump made it a point to declare that Democrats are the enemy of crypto, just hours after some Democrats had shown support for the industry by voting against the SEC rule.
Trump positioned himself as crypto’s only hope against a backdrop of hostile policies that, in his view, could drive the industry out of the U.S. “We’ll stop it, because I don’t want that,” he vowed, promising to keep the crypto industry thriving in the states.
“We Made NFTs Hot Again” was another key message from the night. Trump boasted about the success of his NFTs, which feature muscular depictions of him in patriotic scenes, claiming they revived the market.
Despite pondering whether to launch another NFT series, he questioned if that would dilute the value of the existing collections. The response from the crowd? Mixed, but it showed they were thinking like investors. Trump laughed it off with a joke about economists in the room, keeping the mood light but focused.
