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President Donald Trump had the crypto community feeding out of the palm of his hand leading up to the 2024 election. But now, some of the digital currency’s leaders are calling him a grifter.
On Sunday, Trump announced that the United States would adopt a federal Crypto Reserve, which would include both Bitcoin and some more controversial cryptocurrencies.
“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA. I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump later added that Bitcoin and Ethereum—the two largest cryptocurrencies—would “obviously” be the “heart of the Reserve.”
His announcement didn’t just fall flat, but it completely disrupted the crypto community.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong questioned Trump’s decision to allow cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, writing on X that including “just Bitcoin would probably be the best option - simplest, and clear story as successor to gold.”
But other leaders weren’t so gentle in their opposition to Trump’s announcement.
“It’s wrong to steal my money for grift on the left; it’s also wrong to tax me for crypto bro schemes,” Joe Lonsdale, billionaire co-founder of AI-focused defense contractor Palantir and Trump supporter, wrote on X.
Lonsdale isn’t alone in this theory, as the consensus in crypto social media channels is that Trump is attempting another “pump and dump” scheme to funnel money to undisclosed players.
Crypto leaders like Lonsdale and Jason Calacanis, who is close friends with “crypto czar” David Sacks, seem to believe that Trump had investors buy into the other volatile coins prior to his announcement.
“Only one conservative Trump supporter has come out and said what an insane grift the Crypto Strategic Fund is as far as I can see. But 99% of them are thinking it but are too scared to disagree with Trump,” Calacanis wrote on X.
It remains to be seen if Trump is trying to cash in for himself and his angel investors or if he’s actually going to put his executive order signing power to action.
This Friday, Trump and Sacks will be holding a first-of-its-kind crypto summit at the White House. And as for Trump’s personal gains in the crypto community, he has already positioned himself to gain millions by establishing his crypto-trading platform World Liberty Financial.
Trump, along with his wife Melania, also launched his own meme coin just before his inauguration. And Trump Media & Technology announced that it’s venturing into cryptocurrency and financial and investment advising.
If Trump is going to profit off of cryptocurrency, he is in a great position to do so.
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