US Presidential contender Donald Trump has announced his plans to support Bitcoin mining in the US as he continues to lure crypto voters.
In a social media post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be made in the USA. It will help us be energy dominant.”
His recent statement implies a willingness to allow Bitcoin miners to use local US resources. Criticism around BTC mining activities in the US has seen other countries, such as El Salvador and China, dominate the Bitcoin mining industry.
Trump’s Pro-Crypto Campaign Strategy
Trump is taking a pro-crypto stance as part of his campaign strategy to win the November Presidential elections. Just last week, he called himself “crypto president” at a fundraiser in San Francisco.
He also promised to halt the anti-crypto crusade launched by President Joe Biden and the Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler.
Trump’s pro-crypto remarks are earning him the support of prominent people in the cryptocurrency industry. According to Reuters, the recent fundraiser raised $12 million, with some of the attendees including Coinbase executives and the co-founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
Michael Schultz, the executive chairman of crypto mining firm CleanSpark, has also hailed Trump’s support for the crypto industry. While speaking to Bloomberg, Schultz noted that Trump planned on becoming a Bitcoin miner advocate if elected.
Trump’s campaign also recently unveiled a new website accepting cryptocurrency donations. The platform accepts donations in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Shiba Inu (SHIB), among other tokens.
The former US President is not speaking about the crypto industry from an observer’s point of view. Trump has dipped his toes in crypto through a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Data from Arkham Intelligence also shows he holds $14 million worth of cryptocurrencies.
Trump’s recent sentiment portrays a major turnaround from his remarks three years ago. In 2019, he stated he was “not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.”
Biden Plays Catch-Up
While Trump has publicly declared his support for the crypto industry, the Biden administration remains skeptical.
Recently, President Biden vetoed a bill seeking to overturn the SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121. According to the White House, challenging the SEC’s guidelines would undermine the regulator’s authorities on accounting practices.
However, the Biden administration has approved spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through the SEC. The approval was seen mainly as a political play.
In a recent interview, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci, urged the President to pivot on crypto. He said Biden needed to ignore the “capricious whims” of anti-crypto personalities such as Gensler and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Trump and Biden’s tussle over crypto votes demonstrates the role that crypto is playing in this year’s election. A recent survey by Grayscale and The Harris Poll showed that crypto was becoming a bipartisan issue that Republicans and Democrats alike could not overlook.
