President Donald Trump reiterated on Thursday that the U.S. must lead in cryptocurrency or risk ceding dominance to China.
‘America First’ in Crypto
During the Ratepayer Protection Pledge event, Trump said that his administration never settles for second best and affirmed the “America First” policy.
“We’re leading China and all other countries by a lot in AI and just about every other, including crypto. We want to stay in front in crypto,” Trump said. “They’d love to take that over.”
Is China Really Competing?
From his 2024 campaign through his time in office, Trump has used China as a justification for advancing pro-cryptocurrency policies. He has said that China is trying to get “big” into the sector, although no concrete evidence has emerged.
Beijing issued multiple restrictions between 2013 and 2021 that ultimately banned all cryptocurrency transactions and mining. China’s central bank formally declared all digital-asset trading illegal in September 2021, and providing such services to Chinese citizens from abroad is also prohibited.
The central bank reaffirmed the enforcement in November, voicing specific worries about dollar-pegged stablecoins. Instead. Instead, China has focused on advancing its central bank digital currency, the Digital Yuan.
Trump’s Crypto Riches
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency has proven lucrative for Trump. Financial disclosures revealed he earned roughly $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency ventures last year, including from World Liberty Financial and the Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) memecoin.
Critics have raised concerns around conflict of interest, demanding stronger guardrails around Trump’s cryptocurrency ties. Trump and White House have denied any wrongdoing.
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