On a tumultuous day for the cryptocurrency market, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump weighed in on the topic during a livestream interview with Adin Ross on the platform Kick. The conversation, which touched on a range of subjects, saw Trump address the future of cryptocurrency in the United States.
Ross, a 23-year-old video game streamer who gained prominence on Twitch before being banned for using slurs, raised the issue of the U.S. government’s recent sale of cryptocurrency. He asked Trump whether he would continue to support crypto if elected in November.
Trump criticized the government’s actions, stating, “It’s something they shouldn’t be doing because they should be trying to build it. If we don’t do it, China’s doing it, and other places are doing it anyway.”
Last week, a wallet associated with the U.S. government transferred $2 billion worth of bitcoin to an unidentified wallet, according to Arkham Intelligence. This bitcoin was reportedly linked to funds previously confiscated from the Silk Road. The U.S. government still holds approximately $11.1 billion in cryptocurrency.
Trump described cryptocurrency as a “very modern currency” and compared it to artificial intelligence. “It’s like AI — ‘do you love it or do you not like it?’ — if we don’t do it, China is going to do it, or other people are going to do it, and we can’t be left behind. Crypto is right in that sphere,” he said. The former president has previously expressed a desire for the U.S. to become a “Bitcoin mining superpower.”
Earlier this year, Trump adjusted his stance on cryptocurrency and recently spoke at Bitcoin 2024 in Tennessee, one of the industry’s major conferences. His appearance reportedly raised $21 million for his re-election campaign.
Bernstein analysts noted that the crypto community now views cryptocurrency as a non-bipartisan issue. “We believe the crypto markets will trade completely top-down on political developments until the election results in early November,” they wrote in a recent note.
In legislative developments, Sen. Cynthia Lummis has proposed a bill that would mandate the U.S. to purchase up to 200,000 bitcoins annually over the next five years.
At the time of publication, bitcoin was trading around $53,797, down 9% for the day, with a trading volume of $118.5 billion, according to The Block’s BTC price page.
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