Donald Trump’s views of the cryptocurrency industry have shifted markedly in recognition of the emergence of that sector as a major player in the world of campaign finance.fbjili

In 2021, Trump was an outspoken critic of digital currencies, telling Newsmax, “I’m not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”

That same year, Trump told Fox Business that crypto was a “disaster waiting to happen” and that the United States should “regulate very, very high.”

This year, he has done an about-face. At a June 27 Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Trump told attendees that if he is elected again to the presidency, he would make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.” He also promised to fire government regulators who have been critical of the industry.

The 2024 Republican platform, carefully worded by Trump operatives, declares:

Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency. We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from government Surveillance and control.

Crypto companies — and the venture capitalists heavily invested in them — have returned the favor, not only throwing their support to Trump but also helping him and the Republican Party to crack open a Democratic bastion, the high-tech industry.

A story from April on Puck, “‘All-In’ for Trump,” reflects the changed political environment:

An election cycle ago, Silicon Valley Republicans had to go into witness protection to support Trump. Now, post-cancel culture and post-“All-In,” an influential cohort of billionaires and quasi-billionaires is getting ready to write checks for 45.

William D. Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute, replied by email to my question about the evolution of Silicon Valley’s support for Trump:

Trump’s popularity in the tech community is highest among extreme libertarians and/or megalomaniacs like Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey. They see him as a disrupter and as the political figure most likely to reduce taxes and regulations in ways that give them maximum freedom in how they run their businesses and spend their money.

There is a messianic streak running through large parts of the Silicon Valley defense start-up and venture capital communities that argues that they are the true “doers,” the real modern-day patriots and the only ones who can restore America to dominance abroad and greatness at home — if only government would get out of their way and let them do the job.

An example of what Hartung describes is “The Little Tech Agenda,” a paper released in July 2024 by two Trump supporters, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the founders of Andreessen/Horowitz (also known as a16z), a venture capital firm that has “$43 billion in committed capital across multiple funds.”

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