Donald Trump dominated the cryptocurrency news last weekend. Trump’s statements about positioning the US at the top of the cryptocurrency sector, made during a conference, were met with great interest and excitement. Meanwhile, American economist Peter Schiff criticized Bitcoin (BTC). He noted that China’s focus is on very different areas and suggested that with the resources the US has, a plan to buy Bitcoin would be in China’s interest.
Donald Trump and Bitcoin
The former US president, Donald Trump, stated that America should be at the top of the Bitcoin industry. Commenting on the statement that China would dominate, Schiff expressed in his July 27 X post that China is not interested in Bitcoin due to its current illegal status in the country.
On the other hand, contrary to the US’s plans to focus investments on Bitcoin, Schiff added that China’s priorities are different, being the world’s largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity GDP, and suggested:
China is happy to let the US spend its resources on Bitcoin while it focuses on producing goods people need.
What Will China Do?
Former US President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, presented his views on the future to the audience and the world, declaring his support for Bitcoin, the undisputed largest asset in the cryptocurrency world by market value:
If we do not embrace crypto and Bitcoin technology, China and other countries will. They will dominate, and we cannot let China dominate. They are making a lot of progress right now.
To be more precise, despite strict bans on the cryptocurrency industry, including Bitcoin mining, within its borders, Chinese citizens can still trade tokens on crypto exchanges. Additionally, Chinese investors are known to open bank accounts in countries outside China to buy cryptocurrencies.
Donald Trump Supported Bitcoin
Trump also took his statements a step further, promising that 100% of all BTC currently held and planned to be purchased by the US government in the future would be retained. Schiff, in another post, questioned, “If no one who buys Bitcoin ever sells it, what is the point of owning it?” and added:
What is the appeal of living in poverty, dying with a large pile of Bitcoin, and having successive generations of heirs repeat this process?
Continuing his statement, Schiff also noted the problems with the idea that the US government could buy BTC today and sell it after 20 years to repay the country’s debts without creating inflation.
