Former US President Donald Trump has essentially ruled out the threat of cryptocurrencies being banned if he wins another term in the White House, triggering a jump in Bitcoin prices to an all-time high.
Trump, who warned in 2021 that cryptocurrencies were a “disaster waiting to happen,” appeared in a CNBC interview on Monday to have softened his stance. He acknowledged the popularity of alternative currencies, noting that Bitcoin was even used by many buyers of the special-edition Trump sneakers that he unveiled last month.
“You probably have to do some regulation, but many people are embracing it,” the Republican frontrunner said. “More and more, I’m seeing people wanting to pay Bitcoin, and you’re seeing something that’s interesting, so I can live with it one way or the other.”
Bitcoin surged above $72,000 for the first time after Trump’s interview. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Solana and Dogecoin, also rallied. “It’s an additional form of currency,” Trump said of Bitcoin. “I used to say, ‘I want one currency, I want the dollar, I don’t want people leaving the dollar.’ I feel that way, but I will tell you, it has taken on a life.”
The ex-president insisted that he still intends to defend the US dollar’s status as the world’s leading reserve currency. “I would not allow countries to go off the dollar,” Trump said. “When we lose that standard, that will be like losing a revolutionary war. That will be a hit to our country just like losing a war, and we can’t let that happen. Too many countries now are fighting to get off the dollar.” As for cryptocurrencies, he added, “I have seen there has been a lot of use of that, and I’m not sure that I’d want to take it away at this point.”
Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee to face incumbent President Joe Biden in this year’s US election. Polls released in the past week by the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CBS News/YouGov, and the New York Times show that US voters currently favor Trump over Biden by a margin of 2-4 percentage points.
Although Trump is no longer contemplating a cryptocurrency crackdown, he has pledged to block the development of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC). He said in January that he would never allow a CBDC, calling it a “dangerous threat to freedom.” A digital dollar would give the federal government “absolute control over your money,” he warned.