Trump’s Crypto Flip-Flop: How His Policies Undercut His Own Digital Asset Ambitions

From ’crypto crusader’ to regulatory roadblock—Trump’s legacy on digital assets reads like a self-sabotaging smart contract.

The Contradiction Playbook

His 2024 campaign touted Bitcoin as ’freedom money,’ but his SEC appointments greenlit more enforcement actions than a Wall Street compliance department on espresso.

Regulatory Whiplash

Remember when his administration nearly strangled DeFi with ’travel rule’ proposals? Now his PAC accepts Shiba Inu donations—talk about a non-fungible policy stance.

The Institutional Irony

Gold-standard rhetoric meets blockchain reality: Trump Tower could’ve been the first NYC property tokenized, but his team never filed the paperwork. Typical—Wall Street gets the steak, crypto gets the sizzle.

Trump’s own crypto ventures kill his legislation

Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, said what everyone else was thinking: “Currently, people who wish to cultivate influence with the president can enrich him personally by buying cryptocurrency he owns or controls.” He called the setup “a profoundly corrupt scheme,” adding that it threatens national security and tears down public trust.

Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware said she couldn’t vote yes because of “ongoing self-dealing and financial conflicts of interest being carried out by the TRUMP family.” That includes the $TRUMP coin’s recent promo: offering dinner and a White House tour to its biggest holders.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, from Connecticut, slammed it as a “pay-for-play scheme” and demanded a full investigation. He wants financial records from World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto company launched last year. That company just rolled out its own stablecoin, conveniently while the WHITE House pushed for looser rules around the entire space.

Then came the foreign angle. Reports say that Abu Dhabi-based MGX is using Trump’s stablecoin to fund a $2 billion investment in Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. That kind of international deal tied directly to a sitting US president is what got a chunk of Senate Democrats spooked.

Four of them had supported the GENIUS Act in committee. But over the weekend, they pulled their support, calling for tougher language around money laundering, foreign actors, and security risks.

Crypto industry leaders slam Trump’s interference

The political disaster doesn’t stop at Congress. Earlier this week, Democrats also introduced the End Crypto Corruption Act, a new bill designed to stop elected officials, their top staff, and family members from launching or promoting any kind of crypto.

It was led by Merkley and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. If it passes, it WOULD ban Trump and his family from running the kinds of crypto projects they’ve been cashing in on since January.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York, who helped draft the original GENIUS Act, turned away from the bill too. She said there were still “a number of outstanding issues” to fix before the bill could go to the floor.

“I believe it is essential to the future of the US economy and to everyday Americans that we enact strict stablecoin regulations and consumer protections where none currently exist,” she said.

Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, had been ready to support the legislation. But he said there wasn’t enough time left to negotiate. “Without more time to at least finish the bill, there was no true bipartisan path forward,” he posted on X.

Meanwhile, fintech investors who had rallied behind Trump’s return to office are now watching their hopes burn.

Ryan Gilbert, founder of Launchpad Capital, said the situation is “unfortunate” and urged the administration to stop mixing business and policy. “I would hope that everybody in the administration, including the president, gets out of the way of good policy,” Gilbert said.

At a press briefing on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that “the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws.” She added, “The president is a successful businessman, and I think it’s one of the many reasons that people reelected him back to this office.”

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