I Spoke With Trump This Week
And He Called Me a "Crypto Maniac"
Yes, the picture above is real.
And just because I’m laughing in it doesn’t mean I’m a Trump supporter.
I’m laughing because in that moment he said something to the effect of: “You know what I call people like you — I call them crypto maniacs.” And he did it with the classic Trump upward thrust in intonation. The man is a born troll.
Anyway, I was on assignment to cover a historic event at PubKey, a Bitcoin-themed bar in Greenwich Village, NYC, on Wednesday.
The former president came to the bar to pay for some cheeseburgers with bitcoin, making him the first US President to publicly make a bitcoin payment.
Regardless of which former or current US President it was making the transaction, it was an honor to be there to document the historic event.
You can read my recap of the event, which includes Trump’s responses to the questions I asked him, here:
Also, for the record, one of the owner’s of PubKey invited President Biden, VP Harris, Sen. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand and none of them even responded to the bar owner’s emails.
This makes this the second Bitcoin-related event that I’ve attended in the last three months to which Trump and Harris were both invited and only Trump showed up.
The Democrats have completely dropped the ball on Bitcoin.
The Pennsylvania Stop of the America Loves Crypto Tour
On Monday, I headed out to Philly to cover the penultimate stop of the America Loves Crypto tour.
Former Senator Pat Toomey (R) and former Congressman Patrick Murphy (D) both spoke at the event, urging voters to vote out the anti-bitcoin and anti-crypto Elizabeth Warren-type elected officials in power (which made my soul sing).
Key takeaway from the event: Pennsylvania has 1.4 million crypto owners, which is 18x the amount of the vote differential in Pennsylvania in the previous US Presidential election, which means that Bitcoin/crypto voters could sway the election in PA. (As I said, Democrats have completed dropped the ball on bitcoin and crypto.)
Here’s a section from the piece:
Former Politicians Urge Pro-Crypto Pennsylvanians To Vote
As one of the first speakers at the event, Toomey, a long-term crypto advocate, set the tone for the evening, calling on voters to vote anti-crypto politicians out of office.
“My former colleagues have not been able to get legislation across the goal line [and] an out of control Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] is casting a dark shadow over all kinds of crypto development,” began Toomey from the stage.
“The growth of this whole sector should be happening in the United States of America. We've got the head start. We've got the tremendous entrepreneurship. We've got the infrastructure. But, increasingly, some of the most talented people in our country are leaving because there are jurisdictions overseas that have provided legal clarity about this,” he added.
“There are some folks in Congress on both sides of the aisle that are very in favor of allowing crypto to really develop and thrive. And there are others who are very hostile. My suggestion: some of the hostiles need to lose an election.”
Murphy brought a similar energy, as he highlighted the importance of Bitcoin and crypto as well as Pennsylvanians’ role as voters to protect it.
“The whole point of crypto is the fact that we don't have to rely on a government or a central bank,” said Murphy, making the point that we can use the technology to control our own destiny.
He then seconded Toomey’s call to action regarding voting anti-crypto politicians out of office.
“He was absolutely right when he said there's people that are not for us, and we should hold them accountable,” said Murphy.
To do so, Murphy hammered home the point that Pennsylvania voters have a key role to play in this election.
“There are only really six states that are going to control this election, [and] Pennsylvania [is one with] 19 electoral votes,” said Murphy. “So, we have an incredibly important voice, but only if we use it.”
The Status Conference for the Samourai Case
On Tuesday, I attended the status conference for the Samourai case, which was held in the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
This was the first hearing in the case where both Samourai devs were present.
I provided a recap of the hearing in the video embedded in the tweet below:
And here’s my written recap:
BTC on the Move
Bitcoin (BTC) got a little rippy this week.
It jumped from about $58k to $63k, most likely because The Fed cut rates by 50bps.
For now, BTC is still trading in a range, but I my gut tells me we break out of it sooner than later and the bull market resumes.
This is still a decent level for DCAing IMHO, but once we approach the all-time high ($74k), I’ll just stick to holding cash or cash equivalents for a bit. (Please don’t interpret that as financial advice. It’s not, nor is anything in this newsletter.)
Alright, that’s all for this week.
Thanks for reading, take it ease and talk soon.
Best,
Frank
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