The former President of the CFTC reported that former US President Donald Trump was nicknamed “the first crypto American president” as early as his first year in office, in 2017.
Although at the time Trump was said to be against Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in reality not only did he not do anything to hinder them, but it was actually during his first term that Bitcoin entered the traditional financial system.
The future of Bitcoin
The former president of the CFTC who reported this is J. Christopher Giancarlo, known as Chris, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2017 to 2019, appointed by Donald Trump himself.
Fox Business reports that Giancarlo stated, in remarks made at a crypto policy summit held yesterday in Washington, that Trump holds the title of “first American cryptocurrency president” since his first year in office.
This nickname was given to him when his administration gave the green light to the launch of Bitcoin futures contracts authorized by the CFTC, of which Giancarlo was the president at the time.
At that time, that approval helped the price of Bitcoin to rise to almost $20,000, with the historical maximum reached on the day of the launch of those futures on the Chicago stock exchange (December 17).
In reality, there were already exchange-traded crypto futures contracts, but that was the first time they arrived on a regulated US exchange.
To be honest, those futures did not achieve great success, but in recent months the CME (Chicago Stock Exchange) has become the world’s leading single platform for trading BTC futures.
The Trump administration, which took office on January 20, 2017, was the one to start this process.
Giancarlo was actually appointed commissioner of the CTFC in 2014 during the previous Obama administration, and later became its chairman under Donald Trump.
He stated that the lasting success of that regulated futures market has helped ensure that BTC has a price in US dollars, defining this as an important outcome for the future of digital assets.
It should also be remembered that it was thanks to those futures that the first crypto ETFs were launched in the USA, a few years ago when there were still no ETFs on Bitcoin spot on US exchanges.
Donald Trump: the crypto President
During 2017, the Trump administration actually seemed to have done well for Bitcoin and the crypto market.
However in 2018, when there was a dramatic crypto bear-market that caused the price of BTC to plummet to $3,200, Trump distanced himself from Bitcoin, perhaps to avoid being associated with the bear-market.
It is worth noting that during those months, even the US stock markets retraced a bit, but only for a few months and without collapsing. In the second half of the year, the price of Bitcoin continued to decline, while the US stock markets started to rise again.
After losing the 2020 elections, Trump had to face several problems, especially legal ones, which must have cost him a lot.
During the full bear market that followed, in 2022, he announced the launch of his NFT collection. On one hand, the initiative marked his official public entry into the crypto sector, and on the other hand, it served to try to raise some funds.
A few months later there was a rebound following the bear market, and about a year later a new bull run began.
This year, in the midst of the presidential election campaign for the November elections, Trump has already publicly stated that he intends to support the sector.
It is not to be excluded that Giancarlo’s statements may have the purpose of helping Trump to return as president, also because if this were to happen it is possible that the new president ends up replacing both the current presidents of the SEC and the CFTC, both appointed by Biden in 2021.
Cryptocurrencies and US politics
Cryptocurrencies have now become a political issue in the USA, to the point of becoming a topic of electoral propaganda.
Biden and the Democratic Party seem to be decidedly against, while Trump is positioning himself as the main political reference for the crypto world in the USA. Furthermore, the Republican Party seems to be a little more favorable towards the crypto market.
The crypto lobby in the USA has raised over 100 million dollars to support cryptocurrency-friendly policies, mainly thanks to donations from major companies like Coinbase and Ripple.
On the other hand, there are some politicians, in particular Elizabeth Warren, and some public officials, in particular the president of the SEC Gary Gensler, who are trying to counteract the expansion of this sector.
If the previous Trump administration was in fact permissive towards the crypto sector, the current Biden administration has not been, and this could also have consequences on the November elections.
According to Giancarlo, US regulators can successfully regulate cryptocurrencies, if they are willing to do so, and a possible return of Trump to the presidency could favor this path.