Former President Donald Trump is not one to shy away from sharing his opinions on social media. A past take on cryptocurrency by Trump could come up during the 2024 election, with many of the candidates differing on their opinions of the crypto sector.
Here’s a look back at Trump’s old take on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).
What Happened: The price of Bitcoin soared in 2021, hitting all-time highs and seeing many leading cryptocurrencies as trending topics throughout the year.
Cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) also saw a rise in valuation and use cases thanks to the surging popularity of non-fungible tokens, a sector Trump himself explored in 2022.
Cryptocurrencies have faced times of turbulence since the all-time highs, with the bankruptcies and collapses of crypto-related companies like FTX sending prices down.
Back in 2019, Trump shared his opinion about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,” Trump tweeted on July 11, 2019.
Trump also went on to call out Libra, a virtual currency that Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) was working on at the time: “If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks.”
Trump said the real currency in the U.S. is the U.S. dollar, which he said will remain the “most dominant currency anywhere in the world.”
Years later, Trump would use the power of cryptocurrencies to launch his own non-fungible token collection. Many on social media were quick to point out that the former president had called Bitcoin a scam previously.
It was also recently revealed via a campaign filing that Trump owns between $250,000 and $500,000 of Ethereum, which could be from the previous sales of two Trump NFT collections.
Presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert Kennedy Jr. have both announced they will accept Bitcoin for campaign donations. Several candidates, including Trump’s main GOP competition Ron DeSantis, have pro-crypto stances that could become a focal point in debates and as the election nears.
Similar to several of Trump’s other takes, like selling shares of Apple Inc over complaints of the size of the screen, investors who ignored Trump’s opinion could have racked up some profits.
Related Link: How To Buy Bitcoin
Investing $1,000 in Bitcoin: On the day Trump blasted Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, the leading cryptocurrency traded between $11,158.92 and $12,144.62.
Based on the high of the day, an investor could have purchased 0.0823 BTC at the time of Trump’s tweet.
That $1,000 investment would be worth $2,416.10 today based on a price of $29,357.22 for Bitcoin at the time of writing. This represents a return of 141.6%.
At its peak of nearly $69,000 in November 2021, the investment would have been worth $5,661.33, up 466% from the time of Trump’s tweet.
Read Next: Here's How Much Donald Trump Made From NFTs, Truth Social And Other Business Ventures
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