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How Crypto 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 trading cryptocurrencies, which were rapidly rising in value at the time. “I thought, ‘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 keeps most of his assets in cryptocurrencies. And while he voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016—because of the latter’s focus on improving the working class—King is now a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, because of the latter’s recent embrace of cryptocurrencies.
“I can probably say it’s a one-vote question for me because it’s my livelihood,” King told TIME. “Crypto is how I save my wealth, and if [the Democrats] “They’re trying to attack this, it’s literally taking my money. How am I supposed to provide for my family?”
The king embodies a growing faction of the cryptocurrency community that supports Trump with open arms. For years, both during his presidency and after, Trump has expressed his distrust of cryptocurrencies. In 2021, he went so far as to say that Bitcoin it looked like a scamBut as the 2024 election approaches, Trump has reversed course and praised the technology. And over the past week, he’s taken several other major steps to win over the crypto faithful: He announced an appearance at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville on July 27, a Bitcoin conference in New York on July 29, and a cryptocurrency conference in New York on July 30. new NFT project, and chose a staunchly pro-crypto vice presidential candidate in JD Vance.
The crypto world has regained its enthusiasm. Despite the apprehensions they may have towards others elements of Trump’s program Or criminal chargeMany believe he will bring a significant boon to the industry if elected. The crypto community on X, formerly known as Twitter, is filled with pro-Trump sentiments, and cryptocurrency pours into Trump’s campaign. And in the wake of Trump’s shooting, Bitcoin whose price has skyrocketed, apparently based on the belief that the event helped Trump’s chances of being elected.
“Trump has had an incredible and surprisingly positive impact on this industry,” Kristin Smith, CEO of crypto lobbying group The Blockchain Association, told TIME. “That wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card.”
Trump’s U-turn on Cryptocurrencies
Trump hasn’t given many details about his newfound love of crypto after criticizing it for so many years. But he has used the industry as a point of contention, directly contrasting himself with left-wing crypto skeptics like Elizabeth Warren. crypto lobby is well organized and full of money, it offers Trump a lot of potential money.
Trump has attended several fundraisers filled with cryptocurrency industry executives, who have promised to host more fundraisers for him, according to The Washington PostCryptocurrency moguls Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss everyone made a donation $1M in Bitcoin to Trump, criticizing Biden’s ‘war on crypto,’ and Trump discussed crypto policy with pro-crypto entrepreneur Elon Musk, according to Bloomberg. (Musk has since endorsed Trump.) The price to pay to attend a “VIP reception” with Trump at the upcoming Bitcoin conference is a cool $844,600 per person.
When Trump announced that his campaign would accept cryptocurrency donations, a statement on his website said the decision was part of a broader fight against “socialist government control” of U.S. financial markets. (Joe Biden hasn’t spoken much publicly about cryptocurrency, but his administration has.) supported stricter policies made for protect consumers.)
Learn more: Why Donald Trump is betting on cryptocurrency
And earlier this month, The Post reported that a Trump adviser added a passage about cryptography to the Republican Party platform, surprising longtime party members. Part of the passage read: “We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin and ensure that every American has the right to hold their digital assets in their own hands and transact without government oversight or control.” (Government agencies currently use blockchain tracing (to track down cryptocurrency scammers and other criminals.)
Learn more: Inside the Health Crisis of a Bitcoin Town in Texas
Trump’s VP Pick JD Vance Boosts Cryptocurrency Reputation
On Monday, Trump further energized cryptocurrency fans by choosing the Pro-crypto Senator JD Vance as his running mate. While running for Senate in 2021, Vance disclosed that he owned more than $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. That same year, he called the crypto community “one of the few sectors of our economy where conservatives and other free thinkers can operate without the pressure of the social justice mob.” Vance also received significant campaign funding from pro-crypto entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
Earlier this year, Vance circulated a bill that would overhaul cryptocurrency regulation and clarify whether specific crypto tokens should be regulated by the SEC or the CFTC. reported that the proposal appears to be “more industry friendly” than previously introduced bills.
The crypto industry has largely welcomed the idea of a personal Bitcoin holder entering the White House next year. “Senator Vance, an emerging voice for responsive and pro-innovation crypto legislation, is an ideal candidate to lead the Republican Party’s crypto principles,” Kristin Smith wrote in an email to TIME.
Project 2025 also supports the crypto industry
Looming over the election is Project 2025, a sweeping conservative plan led by the Heritage Foundation that lays out policies Trump should implement if elected, including launching mass deportations and combating “anti-white” discrimination. distanced himself of the social truth proposal, dozens of Trump allies and former administration officials are connected to the project.
The crypto industry is excited about the crypto-related language in Draft 2025. The document guest The US president wants to abolish the Federal Reserve (whose monetary policies have long been abhorred by cryptocurrency advocates) and move the US toward a free banking system, in which the dollar is backed by a valuable commodity like gold – or, crypto enthusiasts hope, Bitcoin itself. However, there is no indication that Trump or anyone else in his administration has considered this idea. The document also calls on regulators to clarify the rules around cryptocurrencies, as Vance has advocated, which could pave the way for greater adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Learn more: What is Project 2025?
Questions Remain About Trump’s Commitment to Bitcoin
Despite all this, there are crypto fans who are skeptical Trump’s sudden embrace of Bitcoin will have lasting weight beyond an election-year talking point. Some of Trump’s avowed policy proposals, which have been described as authoritarianseem to counter Bitcoin’s anti-government and libertarian bent. For example, his call for all Bitcoin mining to be located in the United States has angered some crypto idealists, since decentralization and immunity from government pressure are a key part of the ethos of cryptocurrency mining.
Moe Vela, a former Biden adviser and senior advisor to the Unicoin cryptocurrency project, is skeptical of Trump’s intentions. “It wasn’t that long ago that he was critical of cryptocurrencies,” he says. “The crypto community tends to be a little inexperienced when it comes to legislation, policy, and politics — and I encourage them not to fall into the trap of complacency.”
Vela argues that “sound and balanced” cryptocurrency regulation is essential to the industry’s growth. “If we don’t have regulation that weeds out bad actors (and we’ve already seen that we have our share of bad actors), it weakens trust in the industry,” he says.
And Vitalik Buterinlead founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, wrote a blog post on June 17 warning crypto enthusiasts against voting based solely on a candidate’s stance on cryptocurrency. “Making decisions in this manner carries a high risk of going against the values that led you to enter the crypto space in the first place,” he wrote.
Some surveys suggest that cryptocurrency is still an extremely niche interest. The Federal Reserve has found that only 7% of American adults would use or hold cryptocurrencies by 2023, and another poll suggested that anti-crypto sentiment Trump’s approval rating remains high. But the crypto industry is convinced that there could be thousands of single-issue voters like Jonnie King who could push Trump forward in the next election.
“Maybe a politician is just a politician who wants to win votes,” King says of Trump’s pro-crypto stance. “I’m not saying a man is perfect. But when Biden is campaigning against crypto, the only system that represents hope for money, I don’t see how to move forward.”
“If Trump can give us a little hope – even if it’s just hope – that’s something.”