Trump's "Crypto Dinner": Blasting Biden; Building a "Pro-Crypto" Persona

Original title: Trump’s Pro-Crypto Bluster at NFT Gala Lacked Policy Substance
Original author: Danny Nelson, CoinDesk

Original translation: Cat Brother

At a dinner on Wednesday, Donald Trump appealed to a group of voters that Joe Biden completely ignored. But the presidential candidate is not really well-versed in cryptocurrency policy.

During his first run in the White House, Donald Trump was not a fan of cryptocurrencies; he once tweeted that these currencies "came out of thin air." Later, he sold millions of dollars worth of NFTs. This week, he reshaped himself as the preferred candidate in the cryptocurrency field.

"If you support cryptocurrencies, you voted for Trump because they want to end it," he said at the Wednesday gala at Mar-a-Lago, referring to the Democratic Party and President Joe Biden. He also pledged to ensure his campaign could accept cryptocurrency donations.

The 77-year-old candidate’s apparent about-face came as no surprise to his roughly 200 supporters, many of whom had purchased $10,000 Trump Trading Card NFTs to attend the bizarre, sweltering outdoor reception at the former president’s Florida palace. A CoinDesk reporter also attended as a chaperone.

For nearly an hour, Trump fielded questions from a sweaty crowd of suit-wearing people. Only a handful of questions focused on cryptocurrency, the nominal theme of the entire event but a very niche subject.

But it was enough to make a few things clear:

1. Trump is not an expert in cryptocurrency.

2. Trump is an expert at selling cryptocurrency.

3. The first two points don’t matter because Trump has already declared himself a champion of cryptocurrency.

One exchange highlighted points 1 and 3 (we’ll get to point 2 later). When asked about his views on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and “government blockchains” (both of which are typically opposed by cryptocurrency supporters), Trump responded, “I think there’s a place for all of that.” He continued, “We have some incredible things going on, I mean, looking back at cryptocurrency a few years ago, people said it wasn’t going to work, and now it’s in record numbers. I guess you could say it’s a form of money, and I think I support that, and I support it more and more.”

For the industry’s (likely small) single-issue voters, the substance of Trump’s support for cryptocurrencies may not matter as much as his positive rhetoric about them. Trump appears to be the first major party presidential candidate to embrace cryptocurrencies.

Blasting Biden

On the other side of the campaign, we’re seeing an openly hostile presidential administration. Joe Biden’s SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, is launching legal actions against multiple aspects of the cryptocurrency industry. And just hours before his opponent’s golf resort dinner, earlier on Wednesday, the president pledged to block an attempt by the House of Representatives to repeal a cryptocurrency accounting rule that political opponents say has stifled the industry’s growth.

“Biden doesn’t even know what that is. If you ask Biden, ‘Sir, are you for or against cryptocurrency?’ He’ll say, ‘What is that? Let me get off the stage.’ He has no idea,” Trump said. Whether or not that plausible assumption is true, Trump went on to attack Gensler, an official well-versed in cryptocurrency.

“I’ll say this: I’m fine with it, I want to make sure it’s good and solid and everything else, but I’m fine with it,” Trump said of cryptocurrencies. He later said, “If we’re going to have what we have now, then we’re going to have to accept a lot of things that not everybody likes.”

Hours before Trump’s impromptu QA, Biden’s campaign blasted “people who were duped into spending up to $10,000 to buy simple digital pictures of him” in an email to supporters. The email slammed Trump for hosting a flashy NFT dinner instead of campaigning during his midweek recess.

But Trump was indeed campaigning on Wednesday night. He was courting the votes of the unusually noisy cryptocurrency community that Biden had thoroughly ignored. Of course, only a few hundred people heard him speak in person. Trump’s video endorsing cryptocurrency went viral on social media and sparked a flood of media coverage of cryptocurrency’s self-appointed political champions.

“There are 50 million crypto holders in the U.S. That’s a lot of voters,” Ryan Selkis, CEO of crypto data platform Messari, claimed in a packed Mar-a-Lago ballroom, where VIPs (those who bought $10,000 NFTs) mingled with dinner attendees (those who paid $4,700). Trump unexpectedly called Selkis to the stage.

The sound bites heard at Wednesday’s NFT extravaganza threaten to further polarize cryptocurrency, tethering it to the “us and them” battle that has plagued American politics. Bitcoin’s libertarian roots barely resonate today; crypto has supporters in both parties.

The most influential voice in Republican politics ignored cryptocurrency’s bipartisan reality, asserting that Democrats want to kill it. “The Democrats are very opposed to it,” Trump said, hours after 21 of the 213 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to repeal SEC accounting rules.

Trump has positioned himself as the industry’s only hope. His knowledge of the industry’s problems is patchy. Asked how he would change hostile U.S. policies that expel cryptocurrency businesses from the country, he said: "We're going to stop it because I don't want that, I don't want that. I hope if we're going to embrace it, then we have to keep them here."

"We made NFTs hot again"

There's one area of cryptocurrency where Trump has shown more or less expertise: his NFTs. Three series of Trump NFTs — digital trading cards depicting Super Donald in various states of patriotism — have generated millions of dollars in sales. Wednesday's dinner celebrated big spenders who bought the third series of his "Mugshot Edition."

"We did it when NFTs weren't hot, we made NFTs hot again," Trump said of his trading cards, adding that some NFT buyers have made tens of thousands of dollars on the resale market.

Ask an attendee if he would sell a fourth series of NFTs, the veteran businessman hesitated. “I believe in supply and demand. As you know, 1 did well, 2 did well, 3 did well. Maybe at some point, that will reverse.”

He polled the audience: How many mugshot bigwigs wanted a fourth series of NFT sets? Most raised their hands. Trump sounded confused: “Wouldn’t that probably keep the prices of the things you’ve already bought lower, based on supply and demand?” he tested their resolve. “Who wouldn’t want to see a fourth series for that reason?” Only a few hands went up.

“Well, there are a few economists,” Trump said to laughter from the crowd.

Original link

欢迎加入律动 BlockBeats 官方社群：

Telegram 订阅群： https://t.me/theblockbeats

Telegram 交流群： https://t.me/BlockBeats_App

Twitter 官方账号： https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia