Donald Trump flips on crypto: From 'scam' to building a 'crypto army'

In a sharp reversal, former President Donald Trump has embraced the cryptocurrencies he once reviled, looking to outflank rivals Joe Biden and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. among the technology’s devoted young fan base — and its deep-pocketed executives.

Hours after meeting with bitcoin miners at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Wednesday, the former president said on his Truth Social media platform that cryptocurrency users should “vote for Trump!” because he will stand up to “Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin.”

The declaration came after weeks of concerted outreach to crypto enthusiasts and the people leading the burgeoning industry — and it already seems to be paying off. One bitcoin mining executive who met with Trump told CNBC that his industry has committed to raising over $100 million and turning out more than 5 million voters to help Trump this fall.

But just a few years ago, when Trump was in the White House, he made it clear he was not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,” he said in a series of social media posts in 2019 while he was still in office. “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”

“We have only one real currency in the USA,” Trump continued, “And it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”

Trump maintained that position after he left the office and as recently as 2021, when he told Fox Business in one interview that bitcoin “just seems like a scam.” In another interview with the network, he said cryptocurrencies seemed like a “disaster waiting to happen.”

“I don’t think we should