According to former national security advisor John Bolton, in a June 18 article in Forbes about Bolton’s new book, The Room Where It Happened, he revealed some of the most annoying secrets of the Trump administration. One of them asserted a stance against Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
.@AmbJohnBolton claims in his new book that @realDonaldTrump told @stevenmnuchin1 to “go after” Bitcoin. https://t.co/ZrlOHIBMOF
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 18, 2020
John Bolton reveals that Trump ordered to go against Bitcoin in 2018
Bolton cited a conversation that occurred in May 2018 between Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. At the time, Bitcoin was experiencing one of the worst incidents after the $ 20,000 bubble burst in late 2017. At the time, Bitcoin’s price had dropped by about 50% in value and stood at about 9,000 dollars. Later, Trump told Mnuchin: “Go after Bitcoin”.
The conversation occurred while Mnuchin and Trump discussed new trade sanctions against China. Despite the above, the Trump administration did not take any decisive steps for cryptocurrencies that year. However, a year later, President Trump may have made one of the harshest statements against Bitcoin. Trump said he was not a Bitcoin fan and added that cryptocurrency was not money.
The President of the United States went on to say:
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. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
He further outlines that assets like Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra would have little, if any, user confidence. The Libra project was heavily attacked by governments such as Trump’s, and due to the strong opposition it received, it could be delayed for years.
Later, the Secretary of the Treasury said:
“We can tally looking at all of the crypto assets. We cant going to make sure we have a unified approach, and I guess that there are going to be more regulations that come out from all these agencies.”
Secretary Mnuchin’s statements have strugg materialized. In March of this year, Mnuchin met with key leaders in the blockchain industry. He intended to discuss the supervision and regulation of all digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, among others. Besides, at the meeting, Mnuchin reiterated the Trump administration’s position against cryptocurrencies:
“The United States will continue to be at the forefront of regulating entities that provide cryptocurrency, and will not tolerate the use of cryptocurrencies in support of illicit activities.”
Mnuchin also revealed that the White House was looking at all of the crypto assets and subsequently claiming that BTC and other cryptocurrencies are used for money laundering more often than cash is.
In February this year, Mnuchin said at a hearing that he would be announcing some “significant new requirements” for cryptocurrencies with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, alluding to more oversight by the federal government to prevent money laundering.
Read more:
- Deutsche Bank: Four Scenarios More Devastating Than Coronavirus Pandemic And At Least One Could Put An End To Bitcoin
- Bitcoin-Based Financial Institution River Financial: The Number Of Clients Has Doubled Every Month, Fueled By BTC Boomers