Donald Trump is on a quest to nationalize Bitcoin, providing stark evidence of the dire financial straights the presidential candidate currently finds himself in.
It’s not overly surprising, given the sky-high legal fees the 77-year-old currently faces. On top of the money he’s spent retaining lawyers through ceaseless legal hurdles, he faces numerous court penalties, a spiraling campaign that’s draining his finances dry, and he still owes an eye-watering amount of money to a lineup of previously wronged parties.
The man who’s long boasted his status as a billionaire is, as a result, scrounging up cash wherever he can. The majority of his income currently comes from the desperate, doltish followers who continue to humor his lies, but he’s also seeking further injections of cash via Bitcoin. It’s a strange corner to find the criminally outdated president nestling into, but it’s also one that he obviously doesn’t understand.
That’s made clear by a recent post to Truth Social, which sees Trump champion Bitcoin as “our last line of defense against a CBDC,” or central bank digital currency. He blasts President Joe Biden over his “hatred of Bitcoin” and expresses his desire to see “all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA,” something that will apparently “help us be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!”
It’s always hard to parse Trump’s all-caps rant-fests, but this one is particularly confusing. Largely because it hinges on an impossibility, and one that Bitcoin experts were quick to point out. Namely, what Trump is championing is impossible — there is absolutely no way to “amass a 100% share of the global hash rate,” according to investors.com.
The U.S. already boasts the highest hash rate of anywhere in the world, according to 3iQ strategic advisor Chris Matta, with the nation accounting for a full 38% of the total amount. We can certainly increase that number, but “regardless of the policy decisions, it is simply not possible for all remaining Bitcoin to be ‘made in the USA’ due to the decentralized nature of the network.” Matta says that the current diversification of Bitcoin is “essential” for its resilience, “which reduces the risk of miner centralization and exposure to any single government.”
So Trump is once again making promises he can’t keep, but that’s become such a norm with the disgraced former president it hardly registers. No one expects Trump to actually live up to the litany of claims, promises, and rewards he’s offered over the years when the man can’t even pay his own bills. He’s just saying anything he can to stay in the public eye and in the running for president, but if he ever achieves the position again we won’t see a single one delivered on.
