Mr. Wonderful is casting a glimmering light on the cryptocurrency industry, arguing it is entering a “new phase” under the Trump administration.
“The reason they’re not comfortable with it right now is they’ve watched the cowboy era of crypto, but all the crypto cowboys are in jail or out of business. So now we’re in a new phase. There’s a new tone with the government. Trump has put it forward,” O’Leary Ventures chairman Kevin O’Leary said on “My View with Lara Trump” Saturday.
“They’re going to provide regulations to allow this to become integrated with the financial institutions of America. It’s going to become a payment system, an investment vehicle. It’s going to become part of all the sectors of our economy. We have 11 sectors. Eventually, I believe crypto will be the 12th.”
TRUMP’S CRYPTO CZAR DECRIES GOVERNMENT’S LACK OF BITCOIN ‘LONG-TERM STRATEGY’
President Donald Trump made headlines on the campaign trail last year for embracing the crypto industry as a key issue for the 2024 election.
During an address at the world’s largest bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee in July, Trump vowed for the U.S. to become the “crypto capital of the planet” and a “bitcoin superpower of the world.”
The now-47th president has made good on many of his crypto promises since taking office in January.
TRUMP CREATES STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE, OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCIES TO BE USED IN STOCKPILE
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve last week, just a day before the first-of-its-kind crypto summit.
“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA,” Trump wrote.
“I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.
Crypto czar David Sacks celebrated the move via a post on X.
“The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime,” he wrote. “It is estimated that the U.S. government owns about 200,000 bitcoin; however, there has never been a complete audit. The E.O. directs a full accounting of the federal government’s digital asset holdings. The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called ‘digital gold.’”
“The big news is that this will be the first administration that’s going to say this sector belongs in America. The development should be here. The technology should be mastered here. We should lead the world in it. Other administrations didn’t do that, and I think we should celebrate it because I think we shouldn’t fall behind on this,” O’Leary told Fox News host Lara Trump during his interview at Pubkey bitcoin bar in New York City.
Pubkey co-owner Thomas Pacchia also weighed in on the future of crypto under Trump, noting the leadership under President Biden was “atrocious.”
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“For four years, it was a very aggressive administration. I think the biggest win was just moving on from that and not getting stuck with another 4 or 8 years of that. It was very, very punitive. And there was no conversation. It wasn’t something that you could go and talk about with the administration.”
Trump’s return to the Oval Office is a “massive seat change for the industry,” Pacchia added.
FOX Business’ Anders Hagstrom and Suzanne O’Halloran contributed to this report.