As Donald Trump prepares for his inauguration for a second term as U.S. President on January 20th, some experts in the cryptocurrency sector anticipate that the new administration might adopt a more favorable stance towards digital assets compared to its previous approach.
During his initial term, which began in January 2017 following a tight election victory over Hillary Clinton, who served as former US Secretary of State, Donald Trump (the then Republican president) didn’t seem to discuss cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, or Bitcoin (BTC) at all during his 2016 campaign. This was unlike the 2024 election cycle, where such topics have been mentioned.
In November 2016, when Trump was elected president, Bitcoin’s price hovered around $700 and climbed to approximately $900 by his inauguration in 2017. By the time he stepped down from office in January 2021, the value of the cryptocurrency had soared over 4,000% in four years, reaching a high of more than $36,000. However, it experienced a sharp decline at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Social media activity
For the first time during his presidency, the U.S. President (or at that point in time any president) publicly expressed his views on cryptocurrency through a tweet (now recognized as X) in 2019. He stated he was not fond of Bitcoin and considered cryptocurrencies to be founded on nothing but air. Despite the unfavorable stance towards digital assets, many experts within the industry praised this social media post for generating interest in the technology from the most influential position in the world.
Regulatory approach
A book written by John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, claims that in 2018, the U.S. president asked his Treasury secretary to take action against Bitcoin, potentially signaling a move towards increased regulation.
Under the leadership of Jay Clayton as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the financial regulatory body took enforcement actions against 62 crypto-related entities during this period, including Ripple Labs, Block.one, and actor Steven Seagal.
After his loss in the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Trump’s critical stance towards digital assets persisted. In an interview conducted in June 2021, approximately five months after he left office, Trump stated that Bitcoin appears to be a fraudulent scheme and implied that it is in competition with the U.S. dollar.
This pro-attitude persisted until he unveiled his personal collection of NFT digital trading cards in December 2022, and subsequently declared his plans for another U.S. presidential bid in November 2022.
No pardon for Silk Road founder
By the time Donald Trump assumed presidency in 2017, Ross Ulbricht, widely recognized as the creator of the darknet marketplace known as Silk Road, had already received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his crimes. Convicted in 2015, Ulbricht was found guilty of money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiring to distribute illegal narcotics through the Silk Road platform.
During his four-year tenure as U.S. president, Trump had the power to grant clemency to Ulbricht, but no such action was taken while he was in office. Reports from 2020 indicated that Trump may have felt compassion for Ulbricht’s case, yet it seemed he did not contemplate a pardon or commutation until it became a part of his 2024 campaign platform.
If Trump wins the presidency in May 2024, he had previously stated that he would reduce Ross Ulbricht’s sentence immediately after taking office, implying that Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road, might be free as early as the end of January. However, it is important to note that up until January 20th, President Biden retains the power to grant pardons for anyone facing federal charges, including Ulbricht.
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2025-01-18 17:20