Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump declared that Bitcoin is a “scam”. He insisted that it competes with the American dollar and poses a threat to the dollar’s status as the premier world currency.
“I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar, essentially it’s a currency competing against the dollar. I want the dollar to be the currency of the world. That’s what I’ve always said,” Trump stated during an interview on Fox Business on June 7, 2021
As of June 28, 2021, Bitcoin is at around $34,900. Trump also mentioned that he is avoiding bitcoin and stocks for the time being. He views the latter as overvalued at the moment.
Trump’s comments came right after El Salvador made an unprecedented move to make Bitcoin legal tender early in June. El Salvador’s millennial president Nayib Bukele announced this monumental decision in a video message during the Bitcoin 2021 conference that took place earlier this month. El Salvador is now the first sovereign nation to feature Bitcoin as legal tender.
Bukele justified the move by declaring that the government of El Salvador’s decision to make Bitcoin a legal tender “will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy, and in the medium and long term, we hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction.”
Anna Golubova of Kitco highlighted that Goldman Sachs launched a survey in which it asked chief investment officers (CIOs) to give their thoughts about Bitcoin.
According to the survey’s results, CIOs viewed Bitcoin as their least favorite investment, indicating that institutional actors may be hesitant about the mass adoption of Bitcoin.
“We held two CIO roundtable sessions earlier this week, which were attended by 25 CIOs from various long-only and hedge funds. Their most favorite is growth style but least favorite on bitcoin,” Goldman Sachs strategist Timothy Moe expressed in a note directed to clients.
Ultimately, Trump calling out Bitcoin should not be cause for concern.
There’s a clear generational divide among Americans who are more accustomed to fiat paper money, and on rare occasions, gold. By contrast, younger generations tend to be more bullish towards crypto currencies like Bitcoin.
Plus, figures such as Trump, who are plugged into the business world, operate based on results. His faults aside, Trump is no obdurate ideologue like say Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, or Mitch McConnell are. He can change his mind if presented with evidence that crypto currencies like Bitcoin end up outperforming the dollar.
Ultimately, it does not matter what Trump and people who purport to be financial “experts” think about Bitcoin. The results will speak for themselves if more people adopt Bitcoin because they see value in it.
