Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

GAVIN WAX: Trump Is America’s First Bitcoin President — The Results Will Be Glorious

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C., May 15, 2024. (Screen Capture/CSPAN)

President-elect Donald Trump has reaffirmed one of his most important, albeit if not most widely reported or understood, campaign promises: He will be a Bitcoin-friendly president.

“We’re gonna do something great with crypto because we don’t want China, or anybody else … but others are embracing it, and we want to be ahead,” Trump said during a recent interview with CNBC.

Trump responded affirmatively when asked if he would create a strategic Bitcoin reserve, which has recently gained traction as Bitcoin soars past $100,000. While major powers like China and Russia may be considering holding Bitcoin to increase their economic hegemony, El Salvador, one of the world’s smallest nations, is the foremost state innovator of Bitcoin. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele made Bitcoin an officially recognized currency in 2021, which has proved to be a remarkably prescient decision for the nation’s economic development.

El Salvador’s unrealized gains from its Bitcoin investment recently reached $360 million; its investment has more than doubled. Bukele continues buying at least one Bitcoin daily to maintain its strategic reserve. They hold a stunning $632,648,224 worth of Bitcoin at the present moment and are showing how Bitcoin can help build wealth for a nation and a people. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has introduced a bill to Congress entitled the Boosting Innovation, Technology and Competitiveness Through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act, which would compel the federal government to buy 1 million Bitcoin as a long-term debt-reduction strategy.

What makes Bitcoin crucial to achieving the MAGA agenda is its inability to be inflated or centralized. The inherently decentralizing nature of Bitcoin and the fixed number of coins built into its algorithm makes it anathema to tyrants. Bitcoin gives financial control back to the people from corrupt institutions and bureaucracies. This is why many nations want to implement a central bank digital currency (CBDC) rather than embrace Bitcoin. These nations, backed by globalist entities like the IMF and World Bank, want a digital currency under their guidance to track, monitor, and control every transaction — the literal manifestation of the Orwellian Nightmare.

Trump’s embrace of Bitcoin proves that he is not the authoritarian tyrant his Democratic and RINO detractors regularly portray him as. Trump’s foresight on this issue can give the Republican Party a massive inherent advantage over Democrats. Democrats are in a losing position because they can never truly embrace Bitcoin, which, by its very nature, opposes everything they support. Democrats want more centralized power and less monetary freedom for the people. Bitcoin makes it impossible for their grand utopia to be achieved through money printing and bureaucratic plotting.

Democrats have no use for Bitcoin or anything that would reduce government and central banking power. This allows Republicans to dominate on the Bitcoin issue that will target key demographics Republicans need to win elections in generations to come: independents and the youth.

Trump’s pro-Bitcoin politics have already paid dividends in his electoral success. Although his promise to free Ross Ulbricht, creator of the Bitcoin-driven Silk Road platform, may have seemed like an arcane stance to some, it helped Trump win over libertarian and independent voters who otherwise might not have supported the president-elect. Trump may also consider relief for further subjects of Bitcoin-related political prosecutions, such as Roger Ver, an early investor in and promoter of Bitcoin turned victim of IRS overreach.

Trump’s embrace of Bitcoin is a downplayed story in his sweeping electoral victory last month. Trump’s dominance on the margins allowed him to take every battleground state as he staked out a strong position on the Bitcoin issue that mattered to an overlooked group of swing voters. These swing voters may have been considered on the fringe, but so were ideas like building the wall, getting out of NAFTA, and bringing the troops home before Trump made them mainstream and realized them. Trump has the power to make pro-Bitcoin politics mainstream in the Republican Party as well.

Trump’s prescience on the issue of Bitcoin may ultimately be his most crucial stance to ensure the success of his MAGA agenda. Bitcoin is still in its nascent stages, far from coming close to hitting its peak. Few can understand this technology’s ramifications on society, similar to how few understand how the internet would become such an integral part of daily life. Trump is getting into office at the perfect time to realize its immense potential. Trump’s embrace of Bitcoin will transcend any presidential administration and live on in the annals of civilization like a new industrial revolution. Trump will rightfully be seen as the architect of this Bitcoin revolution and earn his stately visage engraved on Mount Rushmore.

Gavin M. Wax is a New York-based conservative political activist, commentator, columnist, operative, and strategist. He is the Executive Director of the National Constitutional Law Union. He also serves as the 76th President of the New York Young Republican Club and as an Ambassador for Turning Point USA & Live Action. He is the co-author of ‘The Emerging Populist Majority, ‘ which is available now. You can follow him on Twitter at @GavinWax.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.