NFTs
Donald Trump’s pro-crypto braggadocio at NFT gala lacked political substance
PALM BEACH, FL. — During his first stint in the White House, Donald Trump was not a fan of cryptocurrencies; he once tweeted that they were “based on thin air.” He later sold millions of dollars worth of NFTs. This week, he rebranded himself as crypto’s preferred candidate.
“If you are for crypto, you will vote for Trump because they want to end it,” he said at a party Wednesday night at Mar-a-Lago, referring to Democrats and President Joe Biden. He also promised to ensure that his campaign accepts crypto donations.
The 77-year-old candidate’s apparent about-face came as no surprise to his audience of around 200 supporters. Many purchased $10,000 worth of Trump Trading Card NFTs to join this surreal and sweltering outdoor reception at the former president’s Florida palace. A CoinDesk reporter also attended (as +1).
For nearly an hour, Trump fielded questions from a sea of sweat-soaked suits. Only a few of them focused on cryptography, an incredibly niche issue that was the nominal anchor of the entire event.
But it was enough to make a few things clear:
An exchange highlights points 1 and 3 (we’ll come back to 2 later). When asked how he felt about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and “government blockchains” (two things that crypto proponents generally oppose), Trump responded, “I think everything has its place.” .
“We have some amazing things going on, I mean cryptography, if you go back to cryptography a few years ago people said it wasn’t going to work out but now it’s in record numbers. I guess you could say it’s a form of currency and I guess I’m in favor of this, I’m increasingly in favor of it.”
The substance of Trump’s support for crypto may be less important to the industry’s (likely small) headcount. single-issue voters than the fact that he is saying something positive about it. Trump appears to be the first major party presidential candidate to embrace encryption.
On the other side of the dispute is an openly hostile presidential administration. Joe Biden’s SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is waging a legal war against many parts of the crypto industry. And on Wednesday, hours before his opponent’s golf resort gala, the president vowed to block a House effort to dismantle an SEC accounting rule for crypto that politicians opponents they argue harmed the industry’s growth.
“Biden doesn’t even know what it is. If you ask Biden, ‘Sir, are you for or against encryption?’ he will say, ‘What is this? Get me off the stage.’ He has no idea,” Trump said. Whether or not this somewhat plausible presumption is true, Trump followed up with an attack on Gensler, an official versed in cryptography.
“I’ll say this: I’m OK with it, I want to make sure it’s good and solid and everything, but I’m OK with it,” Trump said of encryption. He later said, “If we want to have what we have, we will have to embrace a lot of things that not everyone likes.”
Hours before Trump’s impromptu Q&A, Biden’s campaign team criticized “people duped into paying up to $10,000 for simple digital images of him” in an email to supporters. The email criticized Trump for holding a glitzy NFT dinner instead of campaigning during his midweek break from court.
But Trump it was campaign on Wednesday night. He was competing for votes from the exceptionally loud crypto crowd that Biden had completely despised. Of course, only a few hundred heard it firsthand. His videos of Trump’s pro-crypto musings ricocheted across social media and unleashed a torrent of media coverage for the self-proclaimed political champion of crypto.
“There are 50 million crypto holders in the US. That’s a lot of voters,” said Ryan Selkis, CEO of crypto data platform Messari, in the packed Mar-a-Lago ballroom, where VIPs (those who purchased $10,000 worth of NFTs) mingled with dinner attendees (who paid $4,700). Trump unexpectedly called Selkis to the stage.
The sound bites that emerged from Wednesday’s NFT gala could accelerate the polarization of crypto, trapping it in the same “us or them” shackles that bind much of American politics. Bitcoin’s libertarian roots hardly resonate today; Cryptography has its proponents in both sides of the corridor.
The most powerful voice in Republican politics has left aside the bipartisan reality of encryption by declaring that Democrats want to eliminate it. “The Democrats are completely against it,” Trump said, hours after 21 of the 213 House Democrats voted to repeal the SEC accounting rule.
Trump considered himself the industry’s only hope. His fluency on industry issues was uneven. Asked how he would change hostile US policies that drive crypto companies out of the country, he said: “Let’s stop this, because I don’t want it, I don’t want it. I want it – if we are going to accept it, then we have than let them be here.”
There was one area of crypto that Trump spoke with more or less skill: his NFTs. Three collections of Trump NFTs – digital trading cards depicting a super-jacked Donald in various states of patriotism – have generated millions of dollars in sales. Wednesday’s gala dinner celebrated the high rollers who purchased its third “Mugshot Edition” collection.
“We did it when NFTs weren’t hot and we made them hot again,” Trump said of his cards, adding that some NFT buyers have made tens of thousands of dollars on the resale market.
Asked by an attendee if he would sell a fourth NFT collection, the longtime entrepreneur hesitated. “I believe in supply and demand. And as you know, 1 was great, 2 was great, 3 was great. At some point, maybe that will change.”
He interviewed the audience: How many Mugshot high rollers wanted a 4th series collection of NFTs? Most raised their hands. Trump looked perplexed: “Based on supply and demand, wouldn’t that perhaps keep your prices, for the things you’ve already purchased, lower?” It tested his resolve. “Who would like no see a fourth collection for this reason?” Only a few hands went up.
“Okay, some economists,” Trump said, drawing laughter from the crowd.