Why is Trump a good thing for the crypto industry?

Author: Lou Kerner Source: medium Translation: Shan Oppa, Golden Finance

At 9pm on Thursday, as the crypto community was partying at the Crypto Ball in Washington, D.C., Trump announced the launch of $TRUMP on Truth Social (45 minutes earlier than announcing it on Twitter).

I got into crypto in June 2017, in part because I believed the U.S. government was not our friend, as evidenced by countless incidents, including Operation Choke Point.

I also got into crypto because, based on Ray Dalio’s chart (below), I believe the United States is heading toward inevitable decline, the fate of all empires. Interestingly, looking at the chart, the 200-year rise of the United States is almost a straight line, regardless of the party in power, and the same is true for the 60-year decline.

The great thing about Bitcoin, though, is that while government actions have consequences in the short term, in the long term, I personally don’t think they matter.

In the short term, however, government actions can still have significant consequences. I think $TRUMP is very bullish in the short term because:

Cryptocurrency going mainstream requires people to act

People need a reason to start from scratch. Prior to the launch of $TRUMP, the most positive event I had witnessed in my crypto journey over the past 7 and a half years was the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Regarding this, I wrote:

Within a month of the crash, Bitcoin surged 50%+.

According to Moonshot, 400,000 new people joined the cryptocurrency within 24 hours of $TRUMP’s launch:

Who knows how many millions of people $TRUMP will bring into crypto? But it certainly feels like an important moment in cryptocurrency history. Because once these people enter the crypto world, many will inevitably move to Bitcoin and other tokens.

Who knows if they will add practical uses for $TRUMP? But it couldn’t be easier to devise ways to drive demand over the next four years.

My two predictions:

1. Trump will claim that $TRUMP should be considered part of any crypto strategic reserve.

2. $TRUMP will launch its own Layer 1 blockchain and ecosystem. If you were $TRUMP, wouldn't you do this? Why keep all the value in Solana's ecosystem?

I understand why a lot of people think this is terrible for the industry, but I think they're missing the bigger picture. As Chris Burniske wrote about $TRUMP:

“Permissionless innovation is wild, messy, and sometimes downright embarrassing—but it’s really a microcosm of society as a whole. I encourage everyone to understand all aspects of things and their impacts, even if the first reaction may be negative. "