Former US President Donald Trump almost banned Bitcoin in 2020, according to Mike Brock, the CEO of TBD, a division of Jack Dorsey‘s fintech firm Block Inc.
In a July 18 post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Brock stated:
“Trump tried to ban Bitcoin in 2020, until Steve Mnuchin and a group of people in the administration slow-walked his wishes, to preserve American competitiveness and innovation.”
Mnuchin served as the 77th United States Treasury Secretary during Trump’s presidency. At the time, Trump was a major critic of digital assets and had publicly stated that he was not a “fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”
Brock’s statement comes amid Trump’s recent pivot toward the emerging crypto industry, where he is gaining strong support. He has also garnered support in Silicon Valley for his progressive stance toward technology.
While some stakeholders, like Messari CEO Ryan Selkis and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, have backed him, skeptics like Brock remain.
According to Brock, Trump doesn’t care about Bitcoin and only sees the sector’s support “as an easy fundraising and constituency win.” He added:
“He will walk into the White House and immediately begin the process of doing to them, what he’s done to every other constituency he’s courted: leaving them out to dry.”
When asked if Trump’s view on crypto might have evolved, Brock disagreed, stating:
“Trump doesn’t believe in anything but himself.”
Brock’s perspective aligns with Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of the BitMEX exchange, who recently warned that Trump’s recent pro-crypto stance was false.
Hayes stated:
“I am dismayed that many crypto pundits who should know better are now blindly throwing fancy fundraisers for the Trump campaign. Trump is an astute politician, he will say whatever to whoever is to be re-elected. Once in office, anything related to crypto will be a distant memory.”
Notably, the upcoming November elections have created an industry-wide political awareness, with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently warning voters about supporting pro-crypto candidates who may be making empty promises.
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