Trump promised to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world”

“This afternoon I will lay out my plan to make America the crypto capital of the world and the Bitcoin superpower of the world, and we will get it done,” Trump said, as quoted by CNBC.

The former US president called the current White House administration’s policies “repressive” and vowed to carry out a staff purge against cryptocurrency opponents.

In particular, Trump said he would fire Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, who has taken an aggressive stance on cryptocurrency regulation.

However, CNBC clarified that the president does not have the authority to fire SEC commissioners. Even if he appoints a new commissioner, Gensler will remain the department’s commissioner.

The politician also promised to create a “presidential advisory council on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies” and also to ensure that the country’s authorities do not sell their digital assets.

At the same time, Trump’s promise to preserve the U.S. government’s current bitcoin reserves was a less radical step compared to other proposals at the conference.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would order the government to buy 550 bitcoins a day until the Federal Reserve reaches 4 million bitcoins. And Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis proposed creating a federal reserve of 1 million bitcoins within five years.

Last August, it became known that Donald Trump owns around $500,000 worth of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, although he had previously repeatedly spoken out against digital assets. For example, in 2021, in an interview with Fox Business, the politician said that Bitcoin reminded him of a fraudulent scheme.

CNBC attributes Trump’s change of position on Bitcoin to the Republican Party’s promise to cut through the current administration’s bureaucratic red tape surrounding cryptocurrency regulation, as well as the loss of the 2020 election and “millions of dollars in crypto lobby funding.”

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