It may be that the US presidential election on 5 November is fast approaching, but Donald Trump's name is increasingly being brought up, and he is also being linked to cryptocurrencies. Sometimes it doesn't depend on him, as we told you here on Spaziocrypto a few days ago, when we talked about the memecoin MAGA, but on other occasions, the Republican presidential candidate is directly involved.
The second chapter of the Trump - Biden battle will be, according to experts, a pretty close fight. In the political clash pitting the two candidates against each other, which we commonly call campaigning, cryptocurrencies have also entered these days. For the record, they have actually been dragged into it, but that matters little: what interests us here is that the New York billionaire, historically rather averse to the crypto world, appears to have taken a more conciliatory stance.
"A Solid and Positive Future!" Donald Trump's word
In a recent interview, the tycoon called the future of cryptocurrencies solid and positive, the very instrument that until recently he deemed opaque and fraudulent. The change of opinion is clearly suspicious, especially since it is taking place during an election period and could therefore most likely be an attempt at exploitation to win the votes of the - many - US enthusiasts for cryptocurrencies.
Is There to Trust?
Donald Trump spoke about decentralised finance at his now-famous Mar-a-Lago estate, where on 8 May he met with a group of potential supporters who openly hold non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, and to ingratiate himself with them, he kept an accommodating tone regarding these tools that, until recently, he considered to be based on nothing and only useful to support drug dealing.
In light of this, it is quite likely that Trump's communication is self-interested and does not truly reflect his thinking. It must be said, however, that the strategy is understandable, not only because - perhaps - the Republican candidate could snatch a few more votes by being more open to this finance, but also because the US cryptocurrency community is openly critical of Biden's policy.
Criticism of Joe Biden
The crypto community's rancour against the current Democratic president is due to the threat (only uttered and never realised, not even remotely) of Biden to veto, as the White House tenant can always do, under American law, the H.J. Res. 109 of the SEC. It is a provision that very closely affects cryptocurrencies, allowing regulated financial institutions in the US to hold and trade them in the market.
The existence of this law facilitates the use of tokens on US soil and grants them recognition that is appreciated by many investors and insiders. Numerous industry heavyweights have consistently spoken in favour of 109, from Charles Hoskinson (co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Cardano) to Ryan Selkis (CEO of the analytics firm Messari, one of the most influential in blockchain).
Hoskinson explicitly stated on the his X profile, that one vote for Biden equals one against the American cryptocurrency industry, adding that if Trump had essentially ignored this world, his successor seems to want to work to destroy it. His political stance seems clear, and it is likely that numerous compatriots active in decentralised finance will feel much the same way.
How interested are cryptocurrencies really in Donald Trump?
However, there are also members of the crypto community who are less attracted to Trump, according to whom the billionaire is nothing more than an opportunist who wants to pass himself off as an innovator, even though he is not one at all. The reason why the tycoon has allegedly started accepting donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is not due to a change of heart about the industry, but to his financial woes.
What is apparent is that neither political party is particularly attracted to cryptocurrencies. This should come as no surprise, given that we are talking about two candidates who owe their economic comfort to old-fashioned finance and have an age that distances them far from the spirit of innovation that characterises the movement. Nonetheless, hypocritical and sloppy as it may be, Donald Trump's attempt might yield him a few more votes in the end. Between two evils, it should not be ruled out that some representatives of the crypto community, at the ballot box, will reward the lesser.
