Trump’s Bitcoin U-turn: How the crypto critic became a pump signal

Bitcoin has surged in recent weeks, a rise some attribute to a “political shift” toward the Republican Party ahead of the 2024 United States presidential election.

On Oct. 15, Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump took to X to declare that “Crypto is the future,” calling it an “incredible technology” and reiterating his intention to help the US become a global leader in digital assets.

In September, analysts at the international bank Standard Chartered referred to Trump’s potential victory as a pump signal, predicting that Bitcoin (BTC) could reach $125,000 under Trump by year’s end.

Trump’s emergence as a major crypto advocate came just a few years after the former president publicly called Bitcoin a “scam,” marking a big U-turn on crypto. 

Cointelegraph explored Trump’s transformation from a Bitcoin critic to a major market catalyst.

Bitcoin’s value is based on “thin air,” Trump argued during his former presidency

“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,” Trump wrote on Twitter in July 2019.

Trump also warned about the risks of “unregulated crypto assets,” saying they can facilitate “unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”

Trump continued criticizing Bitcoin and crypto even after his presidential term ended in January 2021. At the time, X suspended him from the platform, citing violations of the company’s policy against “glorification of violence.”

The former president publicly slammed Bitcoin again in July 2021, calling it a “scam” in an appearance on Fox Business. Trump reasoned his statement by arguing that Bitcoin was “another currency competing against the dollar.” He stated:

“Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam […] I don’t like it because it is another currency competing against the dollar. Essentially, it is a currency competing against the dollar. I want the dollar to be the currency of the world, that’s what I’ve always said.”

Trump enters crypto shortly after launching his 2024 presidential campaign

Just over a year after calling Bitcoin a scam, Trump started his gradual entrance into crypto by debuting a non-fungible token (NFT) collection in late 2022. 

The NFTs were Trump’s first significant public move after announcing his 2024 presidential campaign in November 2022. Trump announced an online store to sell $99 digital trading cards of himself as a superhero.

After raising $8.9 million on NFTs, Trump continued to open up to cryptocurrency, reportedly disclosing between $250,000 and $500,000 of digital assets in a cryptocurrency wallet in August 2023.

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Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham claimed Trump’s onchain holdings surpassed $10 million by May 2024.

Trump pitches himself as the pro-Bitcoin presidential candidate

With the US presidential election less than three weeks away on Nov. 5, Trump has been positioning himself as the pro-crypto candidate throughout 2024.

By June, Trump voiced strong support for Bitcoin mining and called on the government to encourage mining “all the remaining Bitcoin” in the US, declaring that this would help the country become “energy dominant.”

Also in June, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss pledged $2 million toward the reelection of Trump, signaling the industry’s growing support of Trump as the next US president.

In September, Trump became the first US president to publicly use Bitcoin in a payment transaction when he purchased hamburgers for BTC in a New York City bar.

While Trump has been increasingly seen as a bullish signal in the industry, he has not addressed his previous criticisms of Bitcoin and crypto in public.

Despite Trump’s U-turn on crypto in the past few years, it remains to be seen whether he will maintain his friendly position to the industry if reelected president.

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