Is Crypto Just Another Misleading Strategy by The Re-Elected Trump?

Donald Trump has won the latest U.S. presidential elections, and he’s set to begin his second term on January 2025. Be it bad or good news for many, it’s happening, and a lot of people in the crypto industry seem to believe this could be something very good for them and their ventures. The thing is, Trump has made some juicy promises of crypto adoption in the country —one of the most influential inside and outside the crypto world.

Therefore, his victory seems to have caused a massive FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in crypto, pushing Bitcoin and some altcoins to new All-Time-Highs (ATHs). Indeed, over a month since the news about his election spread on November 6, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization has increased by more than 44% [CoinGecko]. Good news and bullish times…! Right?

Well. Promises are only that: promises.

Crypto Promises by Trump

One of Trump's key promises involving the cryptocurrency world is to establish a policy ensuring the federal government retains all Bitcoin and other coins seized from financial criminals. By halting the regular auctions of seized cryptocurrency, he hopes to demonstrate the government's long-term commitment to digital assets and, likely, cultivate potential profits. This approach, he says, aligns with the principles of Bitcoiners who emphasize holding rather than selling.

Another significant pledge is to reform crypto regulations, starting with the removal of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Trump has criticized Gensler's aggressive stance against crypto firms, accusing him of stifling innovation with unclear regulations. To be fair, that’s already happening.

Besides, to foster a more supportive environment, Trump has proposed creating a "bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council" composed of pro-crypto individuals. He also vowed to reduce the influence of politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren, whom he views as detrimental to the industry's growth.

On the mining front, Trump advocates for making the U.S. the hub of Bitcoin production. He envisions a future where American miners dominate the network, driving energy innovation in the process. This patriotic focus, he argues, would prevent foreign powers from controlling the future of digital assets. Finally, Trump has expressed plans to lower national interest rates, which could urge more crypto buying in the future.

One could argue that all of the above seems a bit overboard for someone who said a few years ago that cryptocurrencies weren’t money and could facilitate unlawful behavior. In 2019 on Twitter (X), for more pointers. And he repeated something similar in 2021, classifying Bitcoin as a scam.

That’s not to say everyone can change their minds, though. And Mr. Trump sure did change his mind, because he founded his political campaign, among other things, by receiving cryptocurrency donations.

World Liberty Financial (WLF)

That above was barely the start for Trump, because he also partnered with two other entrepreneurs to develop and promote a new decentralized finance (DeFi) project. Called World Liberty Financial (WLF), this is a DeFi platform available solely for accredited investors —which means someone with an income of $200,000+ or a net worth of $1 million.

As the WLF “gold paper” reads:

“The WLF Protocol plans to provide users with information and access to third-party DeFi applications, including third party digital wallet providers for acquiring, holding and transferring stablecoins, and non-security digital assets, as well as liquidity pools which enable supplying stablecoins to general yields, or borrowing funds using non-security digital asset collateral.”

Now, according to NYT, Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman, the entrepreneurs behind this project (along with Trump), aren’t exactly the most trustable individuals. They seem to have a long record “of lawsuits, unpaid debt, and tax liens.” That’s maybe why, as anyone can read on the WLF official website, “None of Donald J. Trump, any of his family members or any director, officer or employee of the Trump Organization, DT Marks DEFI LLC or any of their respective affiliates is an officer, director, founder, or employee of World Liberty Financial or its affiliates. None of World Liberty Financial, Inc., its affiliates or the World Liberty Financial platform is owned, managed, or operated, by Donald J. Trump”.

This seems weird, considering that Trump and its related firm in this case, DT Marks DEFI LLC, “has or may receive approximately 22.5 billion tokens from World Liberty Financial, and will be entitled to receive 75% of net protocol revenues,” while only 25% goes to the ‘real’ founders.

However, the previous non-liability statement should be enough to not consider that Trump, as US president, would have a certain conflict of interests in the realm of cryptocurrency regulation, right? Also, if this little DeFi venture that already has issues ends up failing, well. It won’t be his fault, nor his responsibility. His other crypto ventures may include it as well.

A Misleading Track Record —vs. Other Interests

It seems obvious that, this time around, Trump has a vested interest in actually delivering on his promises about crypto. But we can’t just forget his track record, and it’s not a good one. There’s a whole article on Wikipedia titled “False or misleading statements by Donald Trump”, and it starts with the warning “This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably.” That tells you a big ‘something’. It has charts and all.

Mr. Trump seems very accustomed to spilling misleading or outright false facts for the sake of his own narrative. Therefore, we may wonder if it’s not more of the same with crypto as well. Using crypto as a popularity tool, and then ditching it when it’s not convenient anymore. There are more people aboard this particular ship, though.

Alongside Trump, several influential players are driving the push for crypto adoption and favorable regulations in the U.S. Super PACs (Political Action Committees) funded by the crypto industry poured $131 million into this election cycle, targeting key congressional races to elect pro-crypto candidates. Elon Musk contributed $119 million to pro-Trump initiatives and is part of a transition team exploring crypto-friendly policies. Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, along with the Winklevoss twins, also donated millions to back candidates supporting crypto.

And it worked. It's been reported that 274 pro-crypto candidates were elected to the House and 20 to the Senate in this election cycle. These victories, at least, demonstrate the crypto industry's growing political influence and its ability to push for favorable regulations in Washington.

(Truly) Decentralized is Better

So, in the end, to answer our own question about Trump’s crypto strategy: it likely doesn’t matter. Trump seems to be only one piece in a broader agenda inside the US; an agenda that is favoring positive regulations for the industry, but that’s also perilously close to further centralizing digital assets that were created, precisely, to decentralize money.

Let’s remember that centralization in crypto undermines its core purpose of decentralization, making it vulnerable to government control, censorship, and manipulation. For users, this could mean restricted access, less privacy, and reduced freedom in managing their assets, turning a once-liberating technology into another system dominated by a few powerful entities.

Plans like a government-controlled crypto reserve, coupled with halting auctions of seized assets, might concentrate control over significant holdings. Not to mention Trump’s goal to concentrate Bitcoin mining in the country, when this process should be as globally distributed as possible. Unfortunately, it’s already happening. The mining pool Foundry USA already controls over 31% of the Bitcoin hashrate by mid-November 2024 [CoinDance].

There are some crypto networks more decentralized and censorship-resistant, though. For instance, unlike blockchain networks, Obyte eliminates the need for middlemen, miners, or “validators” to confirm transactions. This means there are no central points of control, making it more resistant to interference from governments or centralized parties.

By using a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) structure and user-chosen Order Providers (OPs), Obyte ensures that transactions are verified by users themselves, without relying on any specific authority or group, enhancing its resistance to censorship and centralization. Let's keep in mind that choosing decentralization is crucial for the long term because it preserves the core values of crypto: freedom, privacy, and resistance to control. Centralized systems, such as private-promoted platforms or even what Bitcoin is becoming recently, can become vulnerable to censorship and restrictions. Truly decentralized networks, like Obyte, are keeping the original vision of crypto alive and protecting it from centralized dominance.

Featured Photograph of Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore / Flickr