Former President Donald Trump gave his personal support to cryptocurrency at a special event for Trump non-fungible token (NFT) holders Wednesday who were gathered at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“I’m fine with it,” Trump said in a clip widely shared on X. “I want to make sure it’s good and solid, but I’m good with it. If you like crypto in any form — it comes in a lot of different forms — if you’re in favour of crypto you’d better vote for Trump.”
He then expanded on the crypto theme.
Trump said U.S. crypto firms are leaving because of what he called “hostility” from Democrats and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.
“Crypto is moving out of the U.S. because of hostility towards crypto,” Trump said. “We’ll stop it because I don’t want that—if we’re going to embrace it, we have to let them be here.”
i asked donald trump how he’s going to keep crypto businesses in america.
sounds bullish 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/rvuztPmQ8P
— Malcolm (33.3%) (@macdegods) May 9, 2024
Those gathered were quick to voice their own willingness to fight for its broader usage.
Ryan Selkis, founder and CEO of leading crypto research firm Messari, expressed his approval of the move by Trump and announced his support for the Republican candidate for the White House.
Well…
I didn’t expect to share that I was in Mar-a-Lago tonight, but President Trump spoke very highly about crypto and then…invited me and @MihailoBjelic on stage to say a few words.
Fight for crypto.
Support President Trump. pic.twitter.com/bPAnvFlxMp
— Ryan Selkis (d/acc) 🇺🇸 (@twobitidiot) May 9, 2024
Venture capitalist Nic Carter, who recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Breitbart, also applauded Trump, asking why anyone who supports crypto would vote Democrat.
today: orange man directly endorses crypto; dementia joe threatens to veto sab121 overturn & dems close ranks around FDIC chair corrupt marty
there’s no ambiguity at all
if you are in any way connected to crypto and you vote D you are directly voting against your own interests
— nic “bankful” carter (@nic__carter) May 9, 2024
Decrypt reports Trump’s shifting views toward digital assets comes as analysts suggested on Tuesday his return to the White House in November would be good for Bitcoin.
The presumed Republican nominee went after the incumbent, claiming President Joe Biden is ignorant about crypto.
“Biden doesn’t know,” Trump told the crowd.
“[Gary] Gensler is very much against it, the Democrats are very much against it,” Trump reportedly said. “But I’m good with it.”
