Trump: The Ultimate Inside Trader
Bitcoin Scam Dwarfs His Earlier Efforts
[I cover some of this material in an upcoming Artsfuse article, but this Substack goes into more detail concerning how the scam operates.]
A few years ago, Trump was opposed to the idea of bitcoin. In 2019 he said that it was “not money” and “based on thin air”. In 2021 he called Bitcoin “a scam” and a threat to the U.S. dollar’s supremacy. Then, it all changed.
During his 2024 campaign, he began accepting cryptocurrency donations for his campaign and hosted high-profile fundraisers with crypto industry leaders. As soon as he took office, he signed executive orders aimed at making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” This included a March, 2025 order to establish a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, using forfeited assets to build a government stockpile of Bitcoin, which would be held as a reserve asset and not sold. Trump’s administration loosened regulations on Bitcoin previously pursued by the Biden administration’s SEC.
Meanwhile, the Trump family launched its cryptocurrency projects, including a meme coin and a stablecoin (USD1) through their company World Liberty Financial. Trump has also disclosed personal holdings in Ethereum and other digital assets.
The big money insiders that surrounded him knew a mark when they saw one. They deftly led him down a pathway that would lead this pack of moguls-and Trump-to wealth unimaginable even by their standards. No longer would Trump have to shill for steaks and bibles.
Actions ensued. Trump pardoned several convicted figures in the crypto space, including Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Juston Sun, Chinese crypto entrepreneur and founder of the blockchain platform TRON invested $75 million in the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial. Venture capitalist and crypto advocate David Sacks was appointed the White House’s crypto czar.
Let’s examine more closely why Trump’s governmental and personal financial activity dovetail so neatly.
First, look at what “backs” our currency. It used to be gold and/or silver. That meant if you wanted to you could redeem your paper money for precious metal. President Nixon ended that in 1971. It was meant to be a temporary measure, but it became permanent.
Now, look at something I mentioned in a paragraph above, that Trump decided the government would create a stockpile of Bitcoin, which would be held as a reserve asset. A reserve asset is something like the precious metals that used to back currency.
For the last 60 years, the U.S. dollar has been the world’s reserve asset-a highly priviledged position. We don’t have to use the yen or the Euro for international money transfer. Other countries have to use the dollar. What Trump is now saying to the world is that the U.S. dollar will be tied to Bitcoin. Why do this?
Because the continuation of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve asset is on mighty shaky ground.
The U.S. is running a deficit of 38 trillion dollars. We have a government that is disfunctional, Trump keeps playing a game of whack a mole with tariffs, and elements like domestic stability-short and long-term-seem less and less apparent to foreign governments. One sign of this is the fact that investors have increasingly been parking their money in gold investments, which have risen 50% since the start of 2025.
Trump has been convinced that the way out of this hole is bitcoin. If the value of bitcoin rises, the deficit can be cut. Of course, by creating a demand for bitcoin, Trump is ensuring the price will rise. And by investing in it himself, he has become the ultimate inside trader
Trump’s GENIUS Act is a wonderful stalking horse for this. It has the appearance of providing a framework for the stockpiling of digital assets, but it has weak protections against illicit finance, no strong consumer safeguards, favors traditional banks and allows big tech companies to engage in bank-like activities without being subject to the stricter regulations required of banks.
It’s a perfect setup. The Trump family has made over $1 billion so far. Just a drop in the bucket. And they’re making sure the whole thing is intertwined in our foreign policy by making a $2 billion deal with a fund backed by the government of the United Arab Emirates that further expands the Trump family’s crypto business. The deal involved the UAE buying a stablecoin created by the Trump-owned World Liberty Financial.
How do we stop the grift? Well, it’s not easy. The guy is a master of distraction. Elliot Ness has been out of business for a while and, in any case, the FBI is in Trump’s pocket. But at the least you have to get that it’s going on right under your nose.
