The following is a guest post from Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of Komodo Blockchain.
After weeks of neck-and-neck presidential campaigning between Democratic and Republican candidates, Donald Trump’s chances of being elected President of the United States are on the rise. According to betting market Polymarket, Trump leads Democratic candidate Kamala Harris by more than 30 points at the time of writing.
Although Harris has incorporated crypto into her campaign, with the help of Mark Cuban, the presidency appears to be shifting away from the current vice president.
Trump has not mentioned Bitcoin at a major campaign event in several months. There are many opportunities for Trump to court votes within the Bitcoin community by proposing a Bitcoin plan in an effort to pay down the national debt.
Trump should reaffirm his commitment to Bitcoin
For example, it is time for Trump to reveal his intention to hold Bitcoin as a national strategic asset. He is expected to outline an in-depth Bitcoin policy, highlighting his plan to capture 20% of Bitcoin’s supply, or about 4 million bitcoins. He should present this as a way to pay down the national debt. Doing so will require an aggressive Bitcoin strategy. Trump should expose it. Harris could do the same, but she is unlikely to do so.
Despite foraying into the world of DeFi to the dismay of Bitcoin maximalists, Trump has demonstrated an understanding of how Bitcoin can be applied at the nation-state level.
While announcing his national debt plan, he can extol all the different virtues of Bitcoin and how it can benefit the nation.
For example, he said that he believes Bitcoin miners help stabilize the energy supply and the network. He has pledged to defend the interests of miners from his seat in the Oval Office. Trump posted on social media:
“Bitcoin mining could be our last line of defense against a CBDC”
He added:
“Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia and the radical communist left. We want all remaining Bitcoins to be MADE IN THE USA!!! This will help us to be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!
The former president, whose campaign accepted cryptocurrency donations, was so tough after the Bitcoin vote that he even pledged at the 2024 Libertarian Party convention to commute the double life sentence of founder of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht.
Trump’s campaign speech was shared from the start by the senior adviser to the Trump administration:
“…Crypto innovators and other tech players are under attack from Biden and the Democrats” and “while Biden stifles innovation with more regulation and higher taxes, President Trump is ready to encourage American leadership in this and other emerging technologies.”
Trump, of course, does not consider crypto a currency nor has he expressed support for Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin Legal Tender Act. This should change.
Trump has a golden opportunity to be proactive and introduce policy as part of a campaign strategy to get elected. He is expected to announce a plan to acquire a substantial amount of Bitcoin in an effort to pay down the national debt.
Trump should guarantee the right to self-custody and create a working group to explore the possibility of creating a Bitcoin standard similar to the classic gold standard. The United States could still create dollars. It would suffice if they were linked to Bitcoin.
With just a week until the election, Trump can generate more enthusiasm with a clear Bitcoin policy: committing to owning 20% of the entire Bitcoin supply.
