From financemagnates by Sam White
Donald Trump in a rally for his 2024 Presidential election campaign; Photo: Shutterstock
The US presidential election results are in, and Donald Trump scored a resounding victory, sweeping the electoral college and the popular vote. There are a huge number of takeaways from this emphatic resolution to a dramatic and unorthodox presidential race, but let’s focus on Bitcoin and blockchains and consider the implications for the crypto industry from this point on.
A Crypto-Focused Campaign
From the top, it’s important to note that there has never previously been a presidential campaign that featured crypto as prominently as that just run by Donald Trump. His push for the presidency received advice and backing from David Bailey, the CEO of Bitcoin Magazine. The campaign accepted donations in crypto, and in July, Trump was the headline speaker at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville.
At that event, Trump made a series of very clear, pro-bitcoin pledges, including intentions to stockpile BTC as a national strategic reserve asset and replace Gary Gensler, who is perceived as having overseen a crypto-hostile regulatory environment, as Chair at the SEC.
JUST IN: Crowd goes absolutely nuts after Donald Trump vows to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler during the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.Trump was clearly taken aback at the crowd's reaction when he made the announcement."On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and… pic.twitter.com/0CyOMaY6FY
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg)July 27, 2024
Trump also promised to protect and bolster the Bitcoin mining industry in the US and put an end to Operation Choke Point 2.0 (an alleged behind-the-scenes strategy by US officials to cut crypto off from banking services). He also pledged to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving life in prison for making and running the online, BTC-accepting black market Silk Road.
Besides that, Trump appears to be surrounded by a tech-centred, demonstrably crypto-friendly inner circle. This includes, most famously, Elon Musk, whose car company Tesla holds 9,720 BTC, and Vice President-Elect JD Vance, who reportedly personally holds a significant amount of BTC.
Additionally, last week, news broke that Strive Asset Management–the firm founded by Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy–has launched a wealth management business that integrates Bitcoin. Trump and his sons, Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron, are all closely involved in a DeFi project called World Liberty Financial.