On May 22, the Trump campaign released an announcement on its official website stating that its campaign will begin accepting Bitcoin donations. Currently, Trump supporters can donate to Trump using any cryptocurrency accepted by Coinbase Commerce products.

The announcement reads: “In her attack on cryptocurrencies, Biden surrogate Elizabeth Warren claims she is building an ‘anti-crypto army’ to limit Americans’ rights to make their own financial choices… MAGA supporters now have a new cryptocurrency option and will build a crypto army on November 5th to drive the campaign to victory!”

Clearly oppose Biden's encryption policy

This move undoubtedly further clarifies the differences in policy inclinations between Trump and Biden on cryptocurrency. In this term that is about to end, Biden and his Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren launched a fierce and comprehensive "regulatory attack" on the cryptocurrency industry, and rounds of regulatory prosecutions have made many practitioners miserable.

Last June, Biden said he would eliminate tax loopholes for cryptocurrencies and hedge funds, and that the rich and big companies must pay taxes fairly. In March of this year, VanEck CEO Matthew Sigel said in an interview, "The Biden administration does not want banks and brokers to touch digital assets. If the presidency changes, we will see more support for the industry."

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution involving the crypto industry, HJ Res 109, which will allow strictly regulated financial companies to act as custodians of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, this resolution was opposed by the office of U.S. President Biden, "The government strongly opposes the passage of HJ Resolution 109, which will disrupt the work of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect investors in the crypto asset market and the broader financial system... If the president receives HJ Res. 109, he will veto it."

Biden said in a statement on Wednesday that he would strongly oppose interference with the SEC's work. "SAB 121 was issued in response to demonstrated technical, legal, and regulatory risks that have caused significant losses to consumers."

In contrast, Trump is much more friendly to cryptocurrencies. Previously, when he was in office, Trump appointed former Coinbase vice president Brian Brook as the Comptroller of the Currency, allowing banks and financial institutions to hold cryptocurrencies. This ruling took effect in the middle of the last year of Trump's term and was called by many as "the most important Bitcoin development initiative in American history."

During a campaign event in New Hampshire in January, Trump also promised that if he is elected president, he would not allow the Federal Reserve to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which has been one of the important policies advocated by the Democratic Party. During the event, Trump said that it would "protect Americans from government tyranny."

A "deep player" in digital assets

In addition to his friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies, Trump may also be the first presidential candidate to personally participate in the cryptocurrency industry.

A few weeks ago, Trump flew back to Florida after his court appearance and held a private dinner with major buyers of his "Mugshot Edition" NFT trading cards. The Mugshot Edition NFT series is also very impressive. Its content is a photo of him being arrested in Georgia last year for conspiring to overturn the state's 2020 election results and various derivative illustrations, including photos of the arrest scene, illustrations of Trump wearing a cowboy hat, and a cartoon image of Trump holding a lightning bolt with "American Superhero" written below.

Each of these NFTs costs $99, and those who attend the dinner must purchase more than 47 NFTs. Buyers who hold 100 NFTs are also eligible to attend the "VIP" cocktail party before the dinner, and will receive a card printed with Trump's suit when he was arrested in 2020. The "lucky buyer" will also get Trump's autograph.

Frank, the founder of DeGods and a well-known founder and KOL in the American NFT community, also participated in the dinner. In addition to the above video, Frank also posted another live video of the event on his X account. In the video, Trump said that he "wanted to make NFT hot again."

During the event, Malcolm, a member of de Labs (DeGods' parent company), asked Trump about crypto companies leaving the United States due to regulatory issues. Trump responded randomly that he would work hard to keep these teams in the United States. "I will stop the hostility. If we want to embrace encryption, we need them to stay here."

In addition to NFT, Trump also holds a lot of cryptocurrencies. On May 16, according to the data of Arkham, an on-chain analysis platform, the value of Trump's crypto assets has increased significantly, currently about $8.97 million, including 579,290 TRUMP meme coins with himself as meme elements, worth $5.79 million, 431,018 ETH, worth $1.3 million, and 374,724 WETH, worth $1.13 million. In addition, he also received $750,000 in other Meme coin airdrops.

Cryptocurrency becomes an important campaign issue

Last November, "Bitcoin maniac" Javier Milei successfully became the president of Argentina. In the previous campaign, he has always been a "pro-crypto" politician. Javier has repeatedly imagined in public that after the closure of the country's central bank, Bitcoin will become the main force as a remedy for Argentina's inflation. Before the presidential election, Javier Milei had shuttled between multiple talk shows, often promoting the benefits of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, saying that "Bitcoin can eliminate the central bank."

In recent years, some savvy politicians have discovered that young votes in the crypto world are a "must-fight" in national vote battles, especially in South Korea, where internal circulation is serious and young people are fanatically speculating in cryptocurrencies and eager to get rich quickly. According to statistics from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea, there are 3.08 million young people aged 20-39 who speculate in cryptocurrencies in South Korea, accounting for 23% of the population in this age group (13.431 million people), accounting for nearly one-fifth.

During the South Korean presidential election in March 2022, the current South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol promised to relax regulations in the cryptocurrency industry, and also promised to "take legal measures" against those who illegally obtained cryptocurrency profits, by confiscating assets and returning them to the victims. At that time, Yoon Seok-yeol's biggest competitor, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who was regarded as the successor to former President Moon Jae-in, not only announced earlier that he would accept cryptocurrencies as political donations for the campaign, but also stated that he would mint NFTs for campaign donors as proof of donations and souvenirs. The issued NFTs will also include photos and political views of Lee Jae-myung.

This year, the People's Power Party led by South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol promised to postpone the collection of digital asset taxes. Since the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea previously banned domestic brokerages from acting as agents for Bitcoin spot ETFs listed overseas, the People's Power Party now intends to allow cryptocurrency products approved by developed countries such as the United States to enter the local market, including Bitcoin spot ETFs. Other virtual asset industry-friendly plans to be added to the election promises include the establishment of a digital asset promotion committee, the completion of legislation related to token securities within the year, and the permission of financial institutions and enterprises and other entities for the purpose of asset management to invest in virtual assets.

Early this morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the SAB121 repeal bill, which was regarded as a "huge victory" by the crypto community. In a circulated recording, former SEC enforcement official John Reed Stark said, "As long as the Democrats are in charge of the SEC, the SEC's attack on cryptocurrencies will continue. Supervision will not be relaxed and enforcement actions will not slow down." It is foreseeable that the encryption industry will continue to be tied to partisan struggles.