Donald Trump, ex-President of the United States and candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, recently made positive comments about Bitcoin in an interview with CNBC. These remarks mark a change from his previous statements on cryptocurrencies, but what exactly did he say ?
Bitcoin has gained momentum, says former President Donald Trump
As the US presidential election of 2024 approaches, the main candidates for the nomination – Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West – are campaigning, and so naturally have their say on the main issues of the day.
And one of these subjects is Bitcoin, which has just surpassed its famous high of $69,044, and is now even trading above $72,500. Asked about Bitcoin on CNBC, ex-President Donald Trump said he’d seen Bitcoin “used a lot”, and was “not sure I want to eliminate it at this point”.
More broadly, the US presidential candidate has made it clear that he would not take any measures against the use of BTC if re-elected. Donald Trump has, however, defended the US dollar, while acknowledging that Bitcoin has more or less become autonomous:
“If you think about it, it’s an additional form of currency. And I used to say I want one currency, I want the dollar, I don’t want people to leave the dollar. And that’s how I feel, but I can tell you that it’s gained momentum.”
Of course, these are just words, and we’ll have to keep an eye on whether Donald Trump acts positively or at least neutrally towards Bitcoin should he indeed be re-elected President of the United States. The billionaire did say, however, that he “sometimes” lets people pay him in Bitcoin, and that this is an “additional form of currency”.
This contrasts with his statements several years ago, when Donald Trump said in 2019 that cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, were not money and were made of nothing. Since then, Trump himself has resorted to cryptos through collections of cards bearing his effigy or thanks to sneaker sales.
This statement comes at a pivotal moment, on the one hand thanks to the explosion in the BTC price, but also because of its adoption by institutional investors, as can be seen from the success of the Bitcoin spot ETFs led by the giant BlackRock.
Source : CNBC
