Trump Unveils Ambitious Plan to Make U.S. the Global Crypto Hub

Thursday 29 August 2024 - 18:00

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has announced an ambitious plan to position the United States as the "crypto capital of the planet." In a video shared with his 90 million followers on X, Trump stated, "This afternoon, I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet. They want to choke you. They want to choke you out of business. We’re not going to let that happen."

The announcement coincides with the rebranding of the Trump Organization’s crypto platform from "The DeFiant Ones" to "World Liberty Financial." The project, which involves Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, aims to revolutionize the financial landscape by providing decentralized financial services and potentially tokenizing real-world assets.

In his post, Trump tagged a verified X account called "World Liberty Fi," or WLFI, which has amassed over 20,000 followers since its inception on August 22. The accompanying Telegram channel, renamed World Liberty Financial, has garnered over 52,000 subscribers and continues to grow.

The announcement follows the launch of Trump’s new round of NFT trading cards, another venture in the digital currency space. Both the NFTs and the crypto platform are private Trump family enterprises, not officially connected to Trump’s presidential campaign. However, they align with his political brand and are marketed to his supporters.

For Trump, these private crypto enterprises offer a dual opportunity to attract crypto voters and donors while generating revenue. The Republican nominee has increasingly positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate, delivering bullish talking points on the industry. Donations and endorsements from the crypto voting bloc have followed, with the Trump camp claiming a total crypto-related raise of $25 million, although this figure has not been independently verified by CNBC.

As of Thursday, the specifics of the World Liberty Financial platform remain unclear. Trump’s sons have offered varying accounts of what the digital bank plans to provide. Donald Trump Jr. recently stated that the family is working to develop a crypto platform that could rival traditional banking systems, emphasizing the appeal of decentralized finance for those who have been "debanked."

Eric Trump, on the other hand, told the New York Post that the project involves digital real estate, which could mean tokenizing real-world assets or selling digitized versions of assets in the metaverse. The former president described the project on Truth Social as a way to "take a stand — together," stating, "For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites."

The launch of World Liberty Financial marks a significant step in Trump’s efforts to integrate cryptocurrency into his political and business strategies. As the project unfolds, it remains to be seen how it will impact the broader crypto landscape and Trump’s presidential aspirations.