From ‘Not a Fan’ to Crypto President

Bitcoin-friendly Donald Trump gained was inaugurated in January because the forty seventh President of the USA of America. However forward of being formally sworn in, the commander in chief dropped a meme coin.

Sure, you learn that proper. Operating on the Solana community, the TRUMP token at one level had a market cap of $14 billion. It’s since plunged to $1.5 billion, however the transfer signaled the brand new President’s rising enthusiasm for the digital asset area after campaigning to assist Bitcoiners and the fast-moving sphere as an entire.

Trump branded himself as a crypto-friendly candidate forward of November’s divisive election, bringing in thousands and thousands of {dollars} in money and digital asset donations from Silicon Valley tech leaders. After which he gained.

However it wasn’t all the time like this: President Trump was as soon as a staunch crypto critic. So how did we get right here?

Trump’s most defining early touch upon cryptocurrency dates again to 2019, when as president he made it clear he didn’t like Bitcoin. 

“I’m not a fan of Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies, which aren’t cash, and whose worth is very risky and primarily based on skinny air,” he mentioned on Twitter on the time, earlier than slamming Fb’s plans for a digital forex. 

“We’ve got just one actual forex within the USA, and it’s stronger than ever, each reliable and dependable,” he added. “It’s by far essentially the most dominant forex anyplace on the earth, and it’ll all the time keep that approach. It’s known as the USA greenback!”

Trump reiterated his beliefs throughout a Bitcoin bull run in 2021. “Bitcoin simply looks like a rip-off,” he mentioned on Fox Enterprise, repeating that he needed the greenback to be the world’s prime forex.

Getting into the NFT world

It took a very long time for him to explicitly say he favored the highest cryptocurrency, and the journey began with an unlikely crypto craze: NFT collectibles. 

By the top of 2021, after Trump had left the White Home, his spouse Melania introduced her plans for a Solana-based NFT assortment. Solana Labs clarified that it had nothing to do with the gathering launching on the blockchain, and Trump continued to slam crypto as “harmful” regardless of his spouse’s enterprise. 

The following yr, nonetheless, the commander-in-chief launched his personal NFT assortment. Minted on Ethereum scaling community Polygon, the digital buying and selling card assortment was at first ridiculed—nevertheless it nonetheless bought out rapidly and made thousands and thousands of {dollars}. 

Trump later mentioned that he solely launched the gathering as a result of he thought they have been “kind of cute.” He has since launched extra collections on Polygon, and even minted a few of the third set on Bitcoin by way of the Ordinals protocol. A fourth assortment launched in August 2024 with the most important variety of NFTs up to now, although lower than 10% of the accessible complete was finally minted.

Trump has even claimed that the success of his NFT collections, and the stunning variety of consumers who used cryptocurrency quite than fiat forex, helped change his perspective on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

A digital pockets tied to the President by blockchain analytics agency Arkham Intelligence reveals that he has raked in thousands and thousands in royalties from the NFTs—and likewise holds a few of the greatest unofficial Trump meme cash, which doubtless have been despatched to the pockets with out Trump’s data or consent.

Trump’s crypto embrace

However it was simply final yr when Trump actually upped the pro-crypto speak. “I earn money with it, I’ve enjoyable with it too,” Trump mentioned in a March 2024 interview with CNBC’s Squawk Field. “Loopy new currencies, that’s what I name them.”

Then, whereas internet hosting holders of his NFTs at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Could 2024, he advised the gang he was “good with” crypto—and slammed Biden and the Democrats for being “towards it.” Many noticed the occasion as a turning level in crypto coverage conversations.

Rumors unfold that month that the world’s richest man and largest donor to the Trump marketing campaign, Elon Musk, had been advising the presidential hopeful on a crypto technique. (Musk denied the studies.) That July, the Republican occasion issued a draft occasion platform that explicitly talked about crypto—a primary for the business.

After surviving an assassination try, the enterprise mogul and former actuality TV star earned Musk’s public endorsement, in addition to assist from many different outstanding names within the digital asset area. And main crypto figures just like the Winklevoss twins of Gemini and Kraken founder Jesse Powell donated sizable sums to Trump.

Trump then chosen Senator J.D. Vance as his decide for working mate, with the Vice President seen on the time as a pro-crypto candidate who beforehand disclosed Bitcoin holdings of between $100,000 and $250,000 again in 2021.

However essentially the most tangible signal of Trump’s rising embrace of crypto got here when he spoke on the 2024 Bitcoin Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. There, he promised the gang that he would construct a “strategic Bitcoin stockpile” for the nation and that his plan was to show the U.S. into the “crypto capital of the planet.”

The Trump household then teased a decentralized finance (DeFi) challenge dubbed World Liberty Monetary, with Trump himself posting a number of social media teasers through the preliminary rollout.

The President’s son Donald Jr. mentioned that the crypto platform might be egalitarian. “For too lengthy, the typical American has been squeezed by the massive banks and monetary elites. It is time we take a stand—collectively,” he mentioned on Twitter (aka X).

Then, a day after the second try on his life, Trump launched the challenge throughout a reside interview with Rug Radio (Decrypt’s sister firm). World Liberty Monetary goals to supply borrowing and lending companies for cryptocurrencies on Ethereum’s community.

As crypto token launches go, the challenge was a little bit of a flop proper out of the gate, solely managing to promote 4% of its allotted tokens throughout its launch. However gross sales ticked up considerably forward of Trump’s inauguration, with the remainder of the allotment promoting out on January 20—the day he returned to the White Home. Decrypt then reported that the World Liberty Monetary challenge had launched its personal stablecoin.

The Republican additionally has extra crypto folks on his staff. Bitcoin bull Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his marketing campaign to endorse Trump, after which joined Trump’s transition staff. Now he is the Secretary of Well being and Human Providers. Orange-pilled Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick can be a part of Trump’s political squad, now serving as Secretary of Commerce.

Elsewhere, famous Dogecoin fan Elon Musk led the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), a program to slash budgets and reduce jobs throughout the federal government. He has since stepped down from the position amid a messy public break-up with Trump.

Crypto ambitions develop

Trump final yr turned the primary present or former President of the U.S.—that we all know of—to have used Bitcoin to purchase one thing: On the widespread New York Metropolis crypto bar, PubKey, the ex-President purchased a burger utilizing the cryptocurrency.

“It’s the start of a brand new period,” he mentioned, referring to the digital asset business. And it wasn’t simply speak: On January 17, he launched a meme coin working on Solana, and the token is now probably the most invaluable meme cash in existence.

The TRUMP token launch has been broadly criticized by politicians and analysts, and is seen by some as a possible avenue for corruption. However whereas the value is down sharply from the height, it has continued to see buying and selling demand, together with in April when Trump revealed plans to host an unique dinner for prime TRUMP holders.

Trump’s unique dinner—held in Could for the highest 220 holders of the meme coin—was a quaint occasion, based on attendees who spoke to Decrypt, and the president solely made a short look. VIP attendees, who obtained a particular tour alongside entry to the occasion, held a mean of $4.8 million value of TRUMP to get a prime spot on the occasion.

However the Republican, in his a number of 5 months in workplace, has made different, extra severe marketing campaign pledges a actuality: He established a strategic Bitcoin reserve and have become the primary president to signal a crypto-related invoice into legislation—ending the IRS’s so-called DeFi dealer rule, which might have imperiled the event of crypto apps in America.

Trump’s SEC has additionally scrapped quite a few lawsuits and towards crypto firms from the earlier administration, and his household is continuous to—albeit controversially—push forward with its personal crypto ventures: Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are launched American Bitcoin, a collaboration with Bitcoin mining agency Hut8 that plans to change into the “world’s largest and best Bitcoin miner.”

The Trump sons are additionally planning to launch a crypto pockets by way of their World Liberty Monetary challenge. Initially, the TRUMP meme coin staff mentioned it might launch its personal Trump-themed pockets, however that plan was canceled after a public (however short-lived) dispute with Eric, Barron, and Don Jr. (The Trump household, apparently, seems to have diminished its stake in World Liberty.)

Extra symbolically, Trump and his household have spoken out towards huge banks and what they deem to be censorship. In an August govt order, the president prohibited the debanking of crypto-related firms, siding with business leaders who’d beforehand complained about being mistreated by the TradFi world.

Trump’s media firm Trump Media and Expertise Group in March additionally signed an settlement to staff with Crypto.com to supply ETFs, with Trump Media itself planning to speculate its personal cash into the merchandise. The businesses have since teamed as much as launch a treasury for Crypto.com’s Cronos (CRO) token, which may even be used throughout Trump Media’s Fact Social platforms. On prime of all that, Trump Media purchased $2 billion value of Bitcoin and associated securities in July after elevating billions to take action.

Trump critics have argued that the president’s digital asset ventures represent a battle of curiosity; Silicon Valley bigwigs say he’s pro-innovation. One factor is for certain, although: President Trump has gone all-in on crypto, shrugging off his previous perspective on the business.

And he is earned loads of followers within the course of—a few of whom briefly erected a golden statue of Trump holding a Bitcoin in Washington D.C. in September.

Editor’s notice: This story was initially revealed on July 19, 2024 and final up to date with new data on October 5, 2025.