Trump says crypto is ‘fledging’ yet ‘massive business’ in project launch

Former President Trump and his sons unveiled new details about their new cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial on Monday night, marking the former president’s latest embrace of digital currencies after years of skepticism.

Trump appeared Monday night in an X Spaces conversation, which was advertised as a “state of crypto address” for the project’s launch.

The conversation featured crypto investor Farokh Sarmad, who interviewed Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and other business allies on the new business and the broader crypto industry at the former president’s Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago.

“If we don’t do it, China is going to do it,” Trump said of crypto development in the United States. “China’s going to do it anyway. But if we don’t do it, we’re not going to be the biggest, and we have to be the biggest and the best.”

“We want to have a great country; we want to stay at the top. We’re making things now, we’re starting and it started under my administration that there was no chance of ever even getting involved in for a long time, we’re leading the pack in so many ways,” Trump added, touting his administration’s creation of the Space Force.

Describing crypto as a “fledging business,” Trump said it is also a “massive business” and “has the chance to really be something special.”

Trump did not offer many specific details about the project and did not address crypto until 16 minutes into Monday night’s conversation when he discussed his three sons – Eric, Barron and Donald Trump Jr. – and their experience in the industry.

“Barron knows so much about this,” Trump said of his 18-year-old son. “He talks about his wallet. He’s got four wallets or something, but he knows this stuff.”

Trump said he was not initially “overly interested” in crypto until his trademarked nonfungible tokens were paid with crypto. His children, though, “opened my eyes more than anything else,” he said.

Trump first teased the crypto project last month in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. At the time, he linked to a Telegram channel called “The DeFiant Ones,” which has since been renamed “World Liberty Financial.”

Little details were released at the time, though a copy of the project’s white paper, obtained by crypto news site CoinDesk, would offer borrowing and lending services using its own crypto token.

The founders include Trump, his three sons, and businessman Steve Witkoff, and his son, Zach Witkoff, CNBC reported, citing a person briefed by a member of the group’s founding team. Despite this, the platform itself is “not owned, managed, operated or sold” by members of the Trump family, Bloomberg reported, citing a copy of the white paper.

The move marks a stark shift for the former president, who said in 2019 that he was “not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies,” calling them “not money.”

After once dismissing crypto as a “scam,” Trump is now vowing to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” if reelected in November. He made the pledge during a Bitcoin conference in July when he announced a series of crypto proposals.

When asked why he believes America is not already the capital of crypto, Trump took aim at what he described as a “very hostile” Securities and Exchange Commission and the Biden-Harris administration.

“They’ve been very hostile toward crypto, toward all of it, and extremely hostile like nobody can believe,” Trump said Monday. “Nobody even understands why. My attitude is different.”

The crypto industry has expressed increasing frustration with the approach the Biden administration and SEC Chair Gary Gensler have taken towards crypto enforcement.

The Biden administration has taken a cautious approach to cryptocurrency during a period in which the sector has largely been defined by high-profile scandals that have hurt investors. In 2022, President Biden signed an executive order requesting government agencies evaluate the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies, financial stability, and illicit activity.

The Hill reached out to the SEC for further comment.

Earlier this year, Trump called for all remaining Bitcoin to be mined in the United States, arguing it could be the “last line of defense” against a CBDC, or central bank digital currency. The world’s largest CBDC pilot is currently being led by China.

He said in January he would not allow the creation of a central bank digital currency if elected, calling it a “dangerous threat to freedom.”