Trump’s New Cryptocurrency Business Could Stir Up More Conflicts If He’s Elected President

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump promises to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” if he returns to the White House. Fulfilling that promise would likely pay off for him personally.

During the presidential campaign, Trump launched a new cryptocurrency trading venture that he promoted on the same social media accounts he uses for his campaign. His two older sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, also post about his new platform, called World Liberty Financial, as does his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who is Eric’s wife and also serves as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

Trump has long combined his political and business interests to promote his hotels AND Golf courses at the White House during the sale sneakers, Bibles and stakes in his social media company during the current campaign. Now, Trump has launched a new money-making venture that could explode in value if he is elected and given the power to push through legislative and regulatory changes that cryptocurrency advocates have long called for.

“Taking a pro-cryptocurrency stance isn’t necessarily a concern. What’s a concern is that you’re doing it while also taking personal advantage of it,” said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the Washington-based government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.

“The success of this endeavor may be closely tied to American economic policy,” Libowitz said.

Cryptocurrencies are forms of digital money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. They are commonly traded on exchanges, which are markets where cryptocurrencies can be bought, sold, and traded. Exchanges often charge fees for withdrawing Bitcoin and other currencies.

World Liberty Financial is expected to be a lending service similar to the recently hacked Dough Finance app created by four people listed as members of the World Liberty Financial team, according to cryptocurrency news site CoinDesk.

Many details about World Liberty Financial, including Trump’s and his family’s holdings, remain unknown. After Lara Trump posted on her X account Tuesday about “our purpose at World Liberty,” her husband, Eric Trump, posted online that Lara and his sister, Tiffany, had been hacked.

During his tenure in the White House, Trump stated that he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies and in 2019 tweeted, “Unregulated cryptoassets can facilitate illegal conduct, including drug trafficking and other illegal activities.”

But Trump changed his mind and started looking favorably at cryptocurrencies — with we announce in May that the campaign will begin accepting cryptocurrency donations as part of an effort to build what it calls a “crypto army” before Election Day; attending bitcoin conference in nashville this year, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoins using the currency the government currently holds.

If reelected, Trump has talked about exerting more control over monetary policy — suggesting he would push the Federal Reserve to set lower interest rates. He has also promoted decentralized finance, or “DeFi,” an umbrella term for using the public blockchain space to disrupt the traditional financial world.

Trump has also spoken of subsidizing the use of Bitcoin mining to increase energy production and has promised to block the creation of a Federal Reserve-run Central Bank Digital Currency — which is a digital form of central bank money that would be available to the general public. While it is still in the exploration phase, many cryptocurrency advocates oppose a centrally managed digital currency.

The Trump and Harris campaigns did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Adopting cryptocurrency could be another way for the Trump campaign to reach younger men, including through cooperation with conservative influencersCryptocurrencies are also attractive to Trump allies who are concerned about government influence on global markets and worried about the reach of the so-called “deep state.”

Dustin Stockton, a Trump supporter turned cryptocurrency influencer, said he supports the former president’s cryptocurrency push and the upcoming launch of World Liberty Financial.

“The involvement and engagement of the Trump family and understanding what underlies cryptocurrencies, I think, is a really positive thing,” he said. Stockton points to the Biden administration as anti-crypto, citing SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s pursuit companies like Coinbase and Binance.

While the White House issued an implementing regulation on digital assets in 2022.Congress has not passed any significant laws or written them into law by the White House. Stockton said the lack of clarity in the Biden administration’s written rules, as well as the SEC’s heavy-handed enforcement of the rules against crypto companies through a series of lawsuits, indicates that “there is a lack of clarity and the rules are being enforced in a selective and arbitrary manner.”

“I wish, honestly, that everyone in the government could better understand what this is all about,” he said.

JW Verret, a professor at George Mason University Law School, said Trump would not violate the law by launching a new project and promoting policies that would benefit him.

“I don’t see any problem with someone, anyone in government, owning assets or starting a business — on the contrary, I think it’s hard for someone to regulate a particular type of business if they’re not in it themselves,” he said.