Trump Wins! Good News for Bitcoin?

The news that’s taking centre stage across the whole world right now is that Donald J Trump has secured victory in the 2024 Elections and has become the 47^th President of the United States of America!

Trump’s election win was emphatic to say the least. He secured more than 294 electoral votes to Kamala Harris’ 223 in what can only be described as a total landslide. It was anything but a close race. Trump won the popular vote and every single one of the seven swing states on his path to the white house. Trump holds the ultimate mandate from the American people in what is arguably one of the most incredibly successful election campaigns in US history.

The people of America have demonstrated unambiguously that a change in regime is what they want to see.

There will of course be countless reasons and policies that will have encouraged the American public to vote for Trump. But at The Bitcoin Way our obsession with Bitcoin heavily outweighs our interest in politics, so the question we find ourselves consumed by this week is “What impact will a Donald Trump presidency have on Bitcoin?”

It’s quite an interesting question because in many ways a Trump presidency will have no impact on Bitcoin whatsoever.  Nobody, even a sitting US president, has the power to make unilateral changes to Bitcoin or can prevent it from processing blocks of transactions every ten minutes. Bitcoin is just software; it won’t behave any differently than it did under any other president.

As the saying goes…. Bitcoin doesn’t care.

But despite not being able to change Bitcoin functionally, a Trump presidency could still result in a dramatic shift in how the world population perceives and subsequently interacts with it. If Trump’s government has a more positive approach to Bitcoin and potentially even legitimises it, then that could have quite a profound effect on society.

At The Bitcoin Way, we don’t consider ourselves political pundits and we don’t claim to be able to see into the future. Nevertheless, we thought it be almost impossible this week not to ponder for a moment what a Trump presidency might mean for Bitcoiners everywhere over the next 4 years.

So, let’s try and make some educated guesses…

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Trump on Bitcoin

One way to understand how a Trump administration might approach Bitcoin is to look at previous statements the man himself has made on the subject. Remember the Bitcoin conference in Nashville at the end of July?

It might feel like a lifetime ago by now, but Trump was a keynote speaker at the largest Bitcoin conference globally less than 4 months ago. Let’s remind ourselves of some of the key statements he made back then:

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1)      He would defend the right to take self-custodyof your Bitcoin

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2)      He would never allow the creation of a CentralBank Digital Currency (CBDC)

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3)      He will create a strategic Bitcoin reserve andnever sell any US held Bitcoin

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4)      He will ensure America dominates Bitcoin mining

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5)      He believes inflation is a stealth taxation andnational disgrace

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As statements go, these are likely to appeal to any Bitcoiners natural disposition.

Trump stating that he would ensure the protection of your property rights and the right to self-custody your Bitcoin is certainly music to our ears. Bitcoin was designed to be peer to peer technology, not something safeguarded by banks or third parties. If this is a sign of things to come then it’s a very good one…

Additionally, the commitment to banning Orwellian CBDCs, building a strategic Bitcoin reserve and promoting mining on US soil, almost sound too good to be true. So far these statements would all suggest that Trump is going to be significantly more welcoming and less hostile toward Bitcoin than any previous president or administration.

And in a surprising statement at the Libertarian National Convention, Trump even promised to commute the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht on the very first day of his presidency.

This is something extremely popular amongst a Bitcoin community that has been campaigning for his release for over 12 years. To many, seeing Ross released would signify a real shift in the political influence that Bitcoiners hold and a much more open and friendly landscape for Bitcoiners to build and innovate within.

So far, the news all seems to be very positive…

But perhaps not for everybody. In contrast to this welcome news for Ross, there was some potentially bad news for a certain chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Gary Gensler. Another commitment Trump made for his first day in office also included firing Gary. Given that Mr Gensler has been openly hostile to companies in the Bitcoin space over the past few years this could again be considered good news by most Bitcoiners.  

Based on everything Trump has said leading up to his presidency saying it looks as though his administration could do a lot to legitimise and accelerate Bitcoin’s adoption. Of course, only time will tell how many of these commitments are honoured and under what circumstances.

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Trump’s Team

Trump isn’t the only member of the new administration that appears friendly toward Bitcoin and is likely to want to create favourable policy toward it.

Trump’s vice-president JD Vance famously owns some Bitcoin himself. He revealed in federal disclosures in August 2022 when the price was hovering around $22k, that he owned in the region of $100K - $250K of Bitcoin. Given that today’s price is over 3x higher it’s likely he is holding at least $350k - $750k of the world’s apex money.

Given that JD Vance has been down the rabbit hole now for at least a couple of years it seems pretty unlikely that he is going to climb back out anytime soon. Very few intelligent people ever do. Understanding Bitcoin tends to be a one-way street.

And it’s not just JD Vance either. RFK who recently became part of Trump’s team has also publicly declared his support of Bitcoin this year. Speaking at the same Bitcoin conference in Nashville as Trump, he declared that if he became president he would:

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1)      Sign an Executive Order directing the USTreasury to purchase 550 Bitcoin every day until the US has a reserve of 4million Bitcoin.

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2)      Force the IRS to issue public guidelines thatall transactions between Bitcoin and the US Dollar are unreportable anduntaxable.

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3)      Direct the IRS to treat Bitcoin as an eligibleasset for 1031 exchange into ‘real’ property.

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Whilst we think RFK’s maths might be a little optimistic (cornering over 19% of the entire Bitcoin market seems pretty implausible), his intent was very clear. He clearly understands the value proposition of Bitcoin and the importance of any nation state owning as much as possible.

What’s perhaps even more interesting however are the two other commitments he made to make Bitcoin transactions untaxable and allow their direct exchange into ‘real’ property. These suggestions were perhaps the most refreshing and exciting we’ve heard simply because this provides immediate clarity that Bitcoin can be used as money.

Of course, these were campaign promises and RFK isn’t the president so isn’t in the position to honour these commitments. Even so, it’s clear that Trump has people close to him in his team that are also very amenable to Bitcoin.

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A Time for Bitcoiners to be Cautiously Optimistic?

So far, the signs seem positive that a Trump administration is likely to take a more sensible and supportive approach toward Bitcoin than any previous US Government.

Even if you’re not convinced that all the commitments made will be honoured, you would be hard pushed to make a compelling argument that the Trump administration won’t be far more hospitable to Bitcoiners than the previous administration.

We shouldn’t be too quick to forget that under the previous regime Joe Biden signed into law Executive Order 14067, which set the stage for the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Not only that but his colleagues like Elizabeth Warren continuously made attempts to encroach on people’s right to self-custody their own Bitcoin by suggesting non-custodial wallets are only used by criminals looking to avoid tracking and commit money laundering. Had the Democrats won the election, things might have been a little bit more complicated for your average Bitcoiner.

So overall, it’s likely that most Bitcoiners probably see the Trump victory as preferable to a Democrat victory. It’s unlikely it could possibly be any worse. But does that mean it’s time to celebrate? Well, perhaps not just yet. It’s never sensible to do an early victory lap. We are Bitcoiners, we don’t trust, we verify! Only time will tell if these commitments are honoured, and our personal freedoms truly protected.

While we’re at it, let’s also make sure to remember that Bitcoin’s irresistible draw was always going to lure politicians into it’s orbit eventually. It was always going to happen. Let’s not forget that Bitcoin is inevitable regardless of whether politicians support it or try to obstruct it. One of the best and most important things about Bitcoin is that politicians have very little influence over it at all. In fact, with Bitcoin as our money, it will be private citizens who once again wield the most political power.

Politicians don’t get to ‘allow’ us to use Bitcoin. We were never asking permission. Instead, we are the ones that get to allow politicians to serve us. If we can remove the state’s ability to fund itself with counterfeit money, it will now have to ask our permission to fund the policies it wants to enact. Politicians must become public servants once again.

So, before we start acting too grateful, let’s realise the true extent of our newfound power. Let’s make sure any commitments we receive are honoured. And let’s make sure we keep working towards the ultimate prize, the complete separation of money and state.

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Become Ungovernable – The Bitcoin Way

At The Bitcoin Way we want to make sure that you gain the skills necessary to become completely ungovernable.

Sure, it’s nice if a politician that has your best interests at heart assumes power. But this might not always be the case, and it’s so much more satisfying to put yourself in a position where you’re safe and secure regardless of the outcome of any election.

We want you to become fully self-sovereign.

If you’re interested in learning how to:

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-           Protect your Bitcoin in 100% pure self-custody

-           Reclaim your online privacy and fully protect yourdevices

-           Secure Plan-B Residency and become a trulyglobal citizen

Then you should book a free consultation. We want to show you just how free it’s possible to become!