US President Donald J. Trump believes China is a threat to the West’s race for the topmost seat in global crypto market dominance, saying Asia will beat America if “they don’t do crypto right.”
Speaking on Wednesday at the America Business Forum in Miami, Florida, Trump told business leaders and entrepreneurs that his administration has effectively ended the “war on crypto,” by the previous President Joe Biden office.
“We are here to embrace a vital industry here in Miami,” he said in a speech at 1 PM ET on the first day of the two-day event.
“I’ve signed historic executive orders to end the federal government’s war on crypto. Crypto was under siege. It’s not under siege anymore because it’s a big industry. And I have a lot of people, great business people, who are in other businesses, but they are in crypto too.”
President Trump promises to make America the ‘Bitcoin superpower’
The POTUS told attendees of the event in Miami that he wants to make the United States the “Bitcoin superpower” and the “crypto capital of the world,” repeating sentiments he made last year at the Nashville Bitcoin conference as he was campaigning for president.
Trump mentioned that in digital currencies and artificial intelligence, the US was pulling ahead of China but could lose ground if it failed to act decisively.
“We’re making the United States the Bitcoin superpower, the crypto capital of the world, and the undisputed leader in artificial intelligence,” Trump said. “We’re leading China by a lot. And don’t forget, if we don’t do crypto properly, China wants to do it. They’re starting it, but they want to do it. Other countries want to do it. If we don’t do it, it’s a big industry.”
The president’s second asking in the Washington Oval office has seen several crypto laws that had blocked the operations of crypto businesses lifted, including the signing of stablecoin law GENIUS Act in July.
According to the White House Fact Sheet, the legislation mandates all stablecoins to be fully backed by reserves held in liquid assets like US dollars or short-term Treasury securities, and issuers to publish monthly reports of the reserves’ composition.
Trump bashes Biden for pro-enforcement crypto regulations
Trump used his Miami speech to criticize his 2021 presidential elections opponent and former US President Biden, accusing the previous administration of launching investigations and prosecutions that damaged the industry.
“Biden was vicious on crypto. They were going after these crypto guys. It was terrible. They were under indictment. But I got indicted, too. I got indicted,” he remarked.
As reported by Cryptopolitan, Trump said during a CBS interview that crypto is a “massive industry” and an important part of his economic agenda.
“My campaign supported digital assets very openly,” he said in the interview broadcast Sunday. “When Biden found out I was getting nearly all the crypto votes, he switched totally.”
Trump claimed that Biden’s change of heart towards crypto “didn’t work,” saying that voters had already lined up behind his pro-crypto stance.
China and Hong Kong step up digital currency race
Crossing to the other side of the pacific, Hong Kong and mainland China are advancing their own digital currency initiatives. On Monday, Hong Kong authorities eased restrictions on licensed virtual asset trading platforms.
VASPs in the city can now connect directly with global exchanges and list new digital assets and Hong Kong-regulated stablecoins without requiring a 12-month track record.
Last year, the special Chinese jurisdiction approved exchange-traded funds tracking spot bitcoin and later became the first jurisdiction to greenlight spot ether ETFs, beating the United States by nearly three months.
“Both China and the US are striving to expand their own currency usage to build up their respective global user ecosystem,” said Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law.
According to data from the SWIFT international payments system, the greenback accounted for just under half of all global transactions by value in September, while the Renminbi moved up one spot to fifth place with a 3.17% share.
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