- Former President, and current Republican candidate, Donald Trump has sought to position himself as the “crypto president” for his 2024 election campaign.
- Trump dubbed himself an industry champion at a San Francisco fundraiser attended by prominent tech and crypto leaders, raising $12 million for his campaign.
Famous braggart, convicted felon, former US President and current presidential candidate, Donald Trump has declared himself a champion of the crypto industry at a tech bro fundraiser held in San Francisco on June 6.
Reuters reports that Trump raised US$12 million (AU$18.2m) at the fundraiser hosted by tech venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya. Event attendee Trevor Traina, a San Francisco-based tech executive and former Trump ambassador to Austria, said:
He said he would be the crypto president.
Trevor Traina, former Trump administration ambassadorRelated: Donald Trump’s Presidential Campaign Now Accepts Cryptocurrency Donations, Vows to Build Crypto Army
Trump Pro-Crypto, But No Policies Forthcoming
Specific policy details were scarce at the event, but Trump apparently described the crypto industry as important, said he supported it, and criticised the current administration’s regulatory approach.
Adviser to data analytics provider Palantir, Jacob Helberg, said Trump, “made clear that the Biden-Gensler crusade against crypto will grind to a halt within one hour of a second Trump administration.”
SEC Chair Gary Gensler has long been the bane of the crypto industry, accused of failing to provide clarity and an agenda of regulation by enforcement. Current President Joe Biden has also been seen as hamstringing the industry, having vetoed a bill to overturn the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121.
Biden also expressed opposition to the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) which passed the US House of Representatives with bipartisan support in May, although he has said he won’t veto.
Related: Standard Chartered Says Donald Trump Presidential Win Could Boost Bitcoin
Can We Trust Trump’s Backtrack On Crypto “Scam”?
It’s fair to be cynical of Trump’s latest move to embrace crypto in the lead-in to an election, given his past comments, including having called Bitcoin a “scam”. He previously tweeted he’s “not a fan” of digital currencies and that they’re “based on thin air” and “facilitate unlawful behaviour” (bit rich, eh?).
But the crypto industry is pushing hard for political support, so Trump’s endorsement has been welcomed by many. Around 80 conservative tech industry elites attended the recent sold-out fundraiser in San Francisco—paying up to US$300K each for the honour—including executives from Coinbase and the Winklevoss twins.
According to Harmeet Dhillon, California’s Republican national committeewoman and a San Francisco-based attorney who acts as an official legal surrogate for the Trump campaign, Trump did not address his felony convictions in May but did allude to the judicial system during the event:
He said that there were some terrible judges out there. He didn’t get specific; he knows he’s under a gag order. He said Republican judges go out of their way, bend over backward to look like they’re being fair, to be fair to the other side.
Harmeet Dhillon, Republican national committeewomanTrump was convicted on 34 counts of falsification of business records in the first degree—a hush-money scheme designed to cover up allegations made by adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. It is the first time a US president has been convicted of a crime. Trump is due to be sentenced in July, and faces the possibility of jail time—although most agree that’s unlikely.
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