Trump's Crypto Platform: Will It Revolutionize the World of Financial Transactions?

As fears swirl of a complete US dollar collapse, former US president Donald Trump has said it's time to take a stand against Wall Street, backing his sons' plans for a financial revolution.

Trump, who has surprised many with his controversial embrace of bitcoin this year, has stated that he opposes the US war on cryptocurrencies, branded Operation Choke Point 2.0.

In recent months, Trump has sought to brand himself as the pro-crypto presidential candidate.

In May, Trump became the first major presidential nominee to accept crypto donations.

Trump's statements revealed more reasons why major crypto companies have backed his election campaign. The campaign has generated over $4 million from a mix of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, ether, ripple, and USDC.

Given that about 52 million Americans own digital currencies, the presidential candidates' stance on the cryptocurrency industry is likely to become a pivotal issue influencing voters' voting decisions.

Trump's Platform

On August 22, former US president Donald Trump said that he was about to launch a crypto platform under the name ‘The Defiant Ones’, without revealing any additional details regarding the nature of the project or its launch date.

He wrote on his platform Truth Social: “For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites. It's time we take a stand together.”

Few words, but they may bring with them major radical changes in the global economy in the near future because they come from billionaire and presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Trump's message came to express his anger at the exploitation of US banks and major financial institutions of American citizens, announcing that his new crypto platform would be an alternative to these entities.

This announcement represents a major shift in the position of Trump, who previously opposed cryptocurrencies, describing them as a scam.

But now, he is presenting himself as a leader in this field, viewing the platform as an opportunity for Americans to resist pressure from financial elites and big banks.

The platform, which is still unclear, will be managed by the Trump Organization, a family holding company.

Two of Trump’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Jr., have spent weeks teasing the forthcoming platform, which Eric recently described as digital real estate.

“It’s equitable. It’s collateral anyone can get access to and do so instantly,” Eric told the New York Post earlier this month.

The Telegram group run by Trump’s sons has been renamed from ‘The DeFiant Ones’ to ‘World Liberty Financial’. 

The account is named WLFI, sparking wild speculation on social media that it could also be the name of a future Donald Trump crypto.

The name change also came with a warning about fake tokens and scams associated with the decentralized finance (DeFi) banking project.

Crypto Supporter

Donald Trump has historically been a critic of crypto assets, calling them a scam, but he has been changing his stance for less than a year, presenting himself as the pro-crypto candidate.

Documents released in mid-August showed that Trump owns between $1 million and $5 million worth of Ethereum, the world’s second-most widely used crypto.

Once a fringe issue in previous US presidential campaigns, crypto assets have become a central issue for both major parties in 2024.

The risky investments have gained popularity during Joe Biden’s tenure in office, which also led to the bankruptcy of the giant FTX in the sector amid a series of irregularities.

On the other hand, candidates have been interested in this topic because it has become a major source of funding for their election campaigns.

A study conducted by the non-governmental organization Citizens United, showed that crypto corporations are by far the dominant corporate political spenders in 2024 as nearly half (48%) of all corporate money contributed during this year’s elections came from crypto backers.

According to a previous report, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are Co-founders of the Gemini exchange, and donated $1 million each to support Trump (through Bitcoin).

Ripple’s general counsel, Stuart Alderoty, also donated $300,000 worth of XRP to the Trump Organization.

While this is a small amount compared to the campaign’s total of $331 million, it’s worth noting that this amount came just about a month after the campaign began accepting the cryptocurrencies, and that it came from major contributors in the sector, including Jesse Powell, co-founder of the crypto exchange Kraken.

A Financial Revolution

Trump asserted – on the sidelines of the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27, 2024, which brought together some 20,000 crypto supporters – that “these cryptocurrencies will define the future. Therefore, it must be mined and manufactured in the United States to be the world’s crypto capital.”

He also made a series of promises to support the industry, centered around forming a presidential advisory council for the crypto industry, in addition to developing a regulatory framework from industry supporters.

He also promised to fire Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a perpetual enemy of the crypto crowd, which was warmly welcomed by the audience.

The former president said during the conference that he had raised $25 million from the crypto sector as of the end of July.

With the introduction of Trump’s platform, the issue of the independence of the US Federal Reserve has returned to the spotlight, which brought back to mind what the Wall Street Journal published about some of Trump’s allies working on drafting proposals that would seek to undermine the independence of the central bank and give Trump more influence over the bank, if he wins the November 5 elections.

Trump’s platform is expected to revolutionize the world of financial transactions and digital technology, and if adopted, it may introduce the US economy into a new financial model that differs from the traditional financial systems that were previously adopted.

This could create a qualitative shift in the global economy, which is often affected by any change in the financial and monetary policies adopted by the US economy, and may also lead a number of developed countries to follow the American experience and apply it in their economies.

It is noteworthy that the launch of Trump's crypto platform is a bold step in the context of the digital shift of the financial system, providing benefits such as enhancing transparency and empowering individuals.

However, this step comes with serious risks related to the role of traditional banks, market regulation, and the stability of the global economy, especially in light of this critical stage that the US economy is going through, which is threatened by recession, and the global economy, which has so far failed to curb inflation.

On his part, Mr. Mohammad Jawad, an economist and technical analyst in the field of cryptocurrencies, said in a statement to Al-Estiklal, that “Trump’s platform for trading cryptocurrencies will receive great attention in the crypto market, but it is difficult to determine whether it will cause a real financial revolution.”

He confirmed that there are many factors affecting the crypto market other than the platform that Trump intends to launch, indicating that Trump has major political motives behind that platform.