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Trump is seeking cryptocurrency donations in latest 2024 awareness campaign for digital wallets
Donald Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday that it will now accept digital currency donations, the latest move by candidates in recent elections to embrace digital coins and the votes of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
The former president touted his program as the first cryptocurrency donation plan by a major candidate party.
The move also comes after a number of other political figures, from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Vivek Ramaswamy, Rand Paul to Andrew Yang, have accepted donations in digital currencies in recent months and years.
Trump says cryptocurrency adoption is about freedom. In a statement, his campaign said that digital currency would “reduce government control over an American’s financial decision-making is part of a seismic shift toward freedom.”
The move is part of a recent reversal of Trump’s long-expressed skepticism toward cryptocurrencies. In 2017 he said he wasn’t “a fan” and recently in 2021 said bitcoin “looks like a scam” in a television interview.
He recently changed his tune and presented himself as an industry champion.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during his trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide cash payments. (Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images) (Pool via Getty Images)
Trump is seeking cryptocurrency donations as he continues a sprint to try to close the fundraising gap with President Joe Biden next beating Biden in April.
Trump still lags in the overall money race, and his haul increased last month largely because of it a single event starring billionaires which raised more than $50 million.
This development of the electoral path also comes as the cryptocurrency sector seeks wins in Washington this week.
The House of Representatives will vote on an industry-friendly bill Wednesday afternoon that would elevate the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the primary regulator of digital assets and limit some of the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Two cryptocurrency defenders on the field in 2024
Funds donated to Trump in cryptocurrencies will be reported as an in-kind contribution, often compared to donating stock.
In any case, digital coins are likely to be quickly converted into cash, with the Trump campaign pledging to comply with federal election laws and regulations.
The campaign claims that eligible donors will be able to use Coinbase Commerce, which urges the ability to accept “hundreds of currencies.”
Trump’s move is just the latest action of this campaign towards the cryptocurrency sector. One well-publicized recent effort was the launch of Trump-themed NFT trading cards that could be purchased with cryptocurrency.
Trump’s efforts to become the cryptocurrency nominee in 2024 create a rivalry with independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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Kennedy already accepts cryptocurrency donations and has frequently touted the industry. He launched a series of perhaps imaginative ideas, from get the US government itself to buy bitcoin TO a suggestion to “putting the entire US budget on the blockchain.”
The independent candidate is a peer host bitcoin-themed community events – at least two are scheduled for this week – to publicize his plans.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. waves to the crowd during a rally in Colorado on May 19. (Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) (Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images via Getty Images)
President Biden has taken a more cautious approach, making only sparing comments on cryptocurrency. In recent years the SEC, under the leadership of Biden nominee Gary Gensler, has been seen as an anti-crypto force by the industry. a series of enforcement actions in 2023.
Trump has often tried to cast Biden as an enemy of cryptocurrencies. Politico reported this recently that Trump hosted a dinner for his NFT supporters in Florida and told the crowd they “better vote” for him.
In Tuesday’s release, the Trump campaign also linked Biden to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. It reads that the Democratic senator from Massachusetts aims to “limit Americans’ right to make their own financial choices.”
Warren has emerged as a leading critic of cryptocurrencies, pushing for greater oversight and citing the industry’s energy footprint.
Another voice, SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci, says it’s actually Biden who would be better off for cryptocurrencies if he wins re-election this fall.
Scaramucci briefly served as Trump’s communications director in 2017, but has since emerged as a fierce critic.
He has tried to argue the point in recent months and added a recent appearance on Yahoo Finance that Biden is “for the rule of law,” which would ultimately benefit the markets.
“I tell bitcoiners that you are at risk if you find someone who wants to destroy the institutions of democracy,” Scaramucci said.
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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