US President Donald Trump says he got involved in cryptography “for politics” and became a fan of cryptography after seeing how much money the industry was making.
On the press conference In the Oval Office on Monday to announce Trump Accounts, an investment account for children under the age of 18, Trump was asked if the accounts allow Bitcoin (BTC).
“I became a big crypto guy for one reason only: if we don’t have it, China will have it,” Trump replied. “I’m a fan, I wasn’t originally, I didn’t know much about it, but during my first term, I wasn’t too involved and I watched it grow and it’s a huge industry.”
“I got into it a little bit for politics,” Trump added. “I realized that there are a lot of people who love cryptography.”
The comments shed new light on why Trump has reversed his stance on crypto. During his first term, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptography and called Bitcoin a “fraud.” Since then, he and his family have built deep business interests in cryptography, and Trump has faced criticism for his pro-crypto stance while being associated with the industry.
“As a businessman, I see a lot of money starting to come in with bitcoin and, you know, in different forms, and I said, ‘This thing has a lot of life,’ and then I heard that China was going to make a big move in this regard,” he added. “If we didn’t do it, China would.”
Trump’s pro-crypto core has enlisted the help of the crypto lobby, which spent about $170 million in the 2024 election to help elect mostly Republicans, and plans to spend even more to support pro-crypto candidates in November’s midterm elections.
Donald Trump talks to reporters about the “Trump Bills” at the White House on Monday. Source: YouTube
Trump says he doesn’t talk to family about crypto interests
Trump said he doesn’t talk to his family about their involvement in crypto, which earned him more than $1.4 billion last year, according to reports published financial information June 30.
Trump and his sons are listed as co-founders of World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform that generated much of Trump’s crypto income last year, but the president said his interest in crypto is “not a personal thing.”
On the subject: Donald Trump says ‘nothing wrong’ with $1.4 billion in crypto windfalls while in office
“I let my kids do whatever they do. I never talk to them about it,” Trump said.
Trump claimed that the Biden administration “stopped all investigations” related to cryptography when he “went very pro-crypto.”
However, under the Trump administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped numerous investigations and withdrawn or settled lawsuits filed against crypto companies, some of which have donated to Trump.
“Every time I see a cryptographer where they stopped the investigation, I say, ‘You’re lucky I’m the president,'” Trump said.
Magazine: SBF Will Never Get Pardon, Trump’s Peace Deal Boosts Bitcoin: Hodler’s Digest
