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Donald Trump is “Not a Fan” of Bitcoin and Crypto, Citing High Volatility

“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money.” Donald Trump tweeted on 11 July.

Exhibit 1. How Donald Trump views cryptocurrencies

Source: Donald Trump Twitter

The tweet came after the night of “Social Media Summit” which did not include any representatives from social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter or Google. The summit was a closed-door conference inviting many right-wing leaders instead. Trump has been complaining about the slowdown for the number of his Twitter followers during the summit, suggesting a conspiracy without further evidence.

Trump also believed Facebook’s Libra to have little standing or dependability. He added that Facebook must seek a new Banking Charter and comply with all domestic and international banking regulations. He then concluded:

“We have only one real currency in the USA. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the world, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”

In June, Trump’s tweet demanding Twitter to let banned Conservative Voice back to the platform, and said: “It’s called Freedom of Speech.” Trump also tweeted in May saying he will continue to monitor the “censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms” after Facebook banned seven users’ accounts including right-wing media personalities Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopoulos and Laura Loomer for policies against “dangerous individual and organizations”.

Steve Bannon Expresses his Admiration for Bitcoin

Co-founder of Breitbart News and former chief strategist for US President Donald Trump’s administration, Steve Bannon has expressed his admiration for Bitcoin saying that it is a part of the “global populist revolt” in a CNBC News Squawk box on August 2.

The populist revolt

Bannon further added that Bitcoin being the leading digital currency could play a key role in the “global populist revolt”. It could easily be seen that Bannon who had been pro-Bitcoin before now is not just expressing his belief in digital currency for the first time. He had said that cryptocurrencies could be an asset to the European anti-establishment movement at an event sponsored by the Swiss newspaper Die Weltwoche on March 6.

He had also clearly mentioned that cryptocurrencies and blockchain will “empower [the populist] movement, empower companies, [and] empower governments to get away from the central banks that debase your currency and makes slave wages.”

Bannon went further to stipulate that developing countries would use cryptocurrencies as a means of breaking free from the dependence of the US dollar as their reserve currency. His interest in cryptocurrencies further gives way for possibilities of creating cryptocurrencies based on the national strength of individual countries.

Image source: PanDaily

US Stocks, Oil, and Bitcoin Price Plunge, Hinting Second Wave of Coronavirus Cases

Stocks have seen their worst day in three months, as the market has been concerned about a possible second wave of coronavirus cases as lockdowns have been easing in certain states in the US.

Along with the risk of a second wave of infections in a few of the US states, US President Donald Trump’s re-election prospects increased uncertainty in the market, according to Eli Lee, the head of investment strategy at the Bank of Singapore.

With jobless claims reaching more than double their peak during the Great Recession, at 20.9 million, US stocks slid, and Bitcoin price also witnessed a slump in the last 24 hours.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 6.9%, the S&P 500 fell 5.9%, and the Nasdaq dropped 5.3% near the end of the day. This trend marked its first three-day losing streak since early March when the coronavirus pandemic became a threat to the US economy.

The recent uptick of coronavirus-related hospitalizations became a catalyst for a grim outlook from the US central bank, according to Dan Deming, the managing director at KKM Financial. “The sense is maybe the market got ahead of itself, which makes sense given the fact that we’ve come so far so fast. The reality is this thing’s going to linger longer than probably the market had anticipated.”

Oil futures also fell for the third consecutive day of trading due to concerns over global energy demand, which depended on the currencies of oil producers and countries that rely on exporting commodities. The oil benchmarks are also heading for their first weekly declines in seven weeks.

Bitcoin struggled to reclaim its price at $10,000 as its price slid to $9,100 after fluctuating around the $9,500 mark for about a week. Bitcoin price takes a dip as institutional investors have been feeling uncertain about the market under the current crises.

COVID-19 has highlighted vulnerabilities in the fiat world

Bloomberg recently published a report on its crypto outlook in June 2020, suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic has been pushing Bitcoin’s maturity, and Bitcoin is gaining the upper hand, against the stock market.

Progressing towards the digital equivalent of gold, Bitcoin’s volatility is at its lowest-ever against crude oil, indicating that the cryptocurrency is joining the mainstream market.

While the Fed is considering the launch of the digital dollar, Facebook’s Libra coin is getting a portion of the spotlight, in particular with the hiring spree of three C-level executives with strong compliance track records.

Goldman Sachs’ prediction

In Asia, the Chinese yuan is also heading for its biggest daily decline in two weeks, which is in line with Goldman Sachs analysts’ prediction. Goldman Sachs is expecting the Chinese yuan to fall to its lowest since 2008 in the coming months due to the existing US-China trade war, and now the US potential sanctions on China over its feud over Hong Kong.

The yuan has been forecasted by Goldman Sachs to fall to 7.25 per dollar during the next three months before recovering to 7.15 per dollar over six months, then to 7 per dollar in the next year. As the firm sees the yuan falling to its 2008 low, the potential for Bitcoin to experience an explosive price rally has been raised.

Bitcoin comes in for people who are looking to bypass China’s strict capital control over sending money offshore. China has previously banned Bitcoin trading as well as trading of other cryptocurrencies, although the development of blockchain has been widely praised in the country.

Former US Head of Treasury Lawrence Summers Backs Cryptocurrency

In an interview between CEO of the digital currency company Circle —Jeremy Allaire and Former US head of Treasury Lawrence Summers, the latter advocated for cryptocurrency’s benefits.

He stated that what appeals to him about cryptocurrency is that it reduces payment friction. In other words, cryptocurrency increases the speed of transactions and eliminates a third-person mediator.

A little about Laurence Summers

Laurence Summers was originally the head of the US Treasury, under President Clinton. He was also the former director of the National Economic Council under Obama’s presidency.

Similarly to President Donald Trump, Summers is not entirely sold on the concept of cryptocurrency. However, he does recognize that it has its benefits.

While he recognizes cryptocurrency’s financial benefits— elimination of transaction fees and facility of use, he clarified that he does not necessarily condone the extreme implications revolving around crypto as the world’s predominant digital asset.

Benefits of switching to crypto

In his interview, Summers talked about how he is charged a transactional fee when he wants to send money to his son, who studies abroad. In his opinion, this is ineffective and could be prevented if one were to resort to using cryptocurrency. The friction that amounts from using traditional methods of payment could be improved with crypto:

“I think the case for all of this innovation will lie in the fact that there is a ridiculous degree of friction in today’s world around doing quite complex things. […] The friction isn’t just coming from the greed of the middlemen — although there is greed among the middlepeople. It’s coming from the various difficulties and challenges associated with mutual trust.”

Central bank digital currencies in the modern world

It appears as if the world will progress to adopting cryptocurrency worldwide faster than we realize.

Christopher Giancarlo, the former member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for President Donald Trump, finds the adoption and development of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) inevitable.

Giancarlo argues that young people everywhere and even citizens in rural communities are very comfortable with digital devices. If broadband and mobile access were more available, CBDC would be the most effective way to onramp millions of the unbanked into mainstream banking services.

How Trump feels about CBDC

Trump has, on several occasions, voiced his opinions concerning cryptocurrencies. In one of his infamous Twitter threads, he tweeted that he was not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which for him “are not money.” He has stoically said that the US dollar is essential to global trade and he will do everything in his power to maintain the status quo.

Will A Second Round of US Stimulus Payments Mean Another Bitcoin Bull Run?

In the last four hours, Bitcoin has experienced a surge, delighting many crypto enthusiasts. It went from $9,941 to $10, 249, rising 3.1%.

How to Spend a Stimulus Check 101

As many Americans have resorted to investing their first stimulus check of $1,200 USD in the coveted cryptocurrency, many crypto market experts are debating on whether Americans will do the same with the second stimulus check that is supposed to arrive. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has announced that the second stimulus payment is set to be administered in August.

Covid-19 Economic Relief: Second Round

In late March, the US Treasury delivered its first stimulus checks of $1,200 each. This was set in place by President Donald Trump in order to alleviate the economic hardships that the pandemic stirred up. Due to coronavirus, many Americans lost their jobs, saw their income reduced, and the US economy took a hit as a whole.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow spoke about the subject in an interview with CNN and confirmed that in light of the pandemic, US residents will see the second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, which are part of an approximate $1 trillion stimulus package.

Americans Bullish on BTC With COVID Checks

Though Americans are expected to invest this money towards basic goods and services and to supplement their basic income, it is speculated whether that will be the case. It was reported earlier this year by CEO of coin exchange Coinbase – Brian Armstrong – that some Americans who received the first-time stimulus checks of $1,200 actually redirected their godsend funds towards Bitcoin (BTC) investments, rather than using them towards basic goods and services.

Americans who invested their first stimulus checks towards BTC were rewarded for their efforts, and experienced a 45.5% return, from $1,200 in April to approximately $1,750 at the time of writing, with BTC surging past $10, 200 just now.

When US officials just announced their plans for the $1 trillion stimulus package, BTC’s value on the crypto market surged past $9,500, breaking a long period of low volatility, where the crypto was estimated to fluctuate between $9,000 and $9,500 in pricing.

Gemini Winklevoss Thinks BTC is a Good Hedge Investment

Now, with the excess money printing due to stimulus checks being paid out by US government, influential Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss advocated in a recent public tweet that Bitcoin is the way to go, and should definitely be invested in. He explained that with the US Federal Reserve’s plan of mass printing money, the “stage for Bitcoin’s next bull run is set.”

The coin exchange CEO thinks that with the current economic turmoil, investors are going to be looking at BTC as a more interesting alternative investment solution, as opposed to mainstream markets.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and LINK Could Benefit From Trump's TikTok Ban

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that seeks to ban TikTok from the United States, following the controversy that the Chinese-owned app raises serious security concerns and that it collects personal information on its users.

Trump Bans TikTok, Microsoft Wants It

TikTok, which is currently owned by ByteDance LTD, has been receiving a lot of backlash lately due to the privacy concerns that were addressed by the White House. Trump has issued a ban on the video-sharing app, as it allegedly has been collecting data on its users’ security and therefore is a serious national concern for the 80 million Americans using the social platform. In light of the pandemic, Gen Z has taken to TikTok and popularized it exponentially, with TikTok boasting of more than 2 billion downloads worldwide, and over 150 million of it originating from the US.

However, with Trump’s orders, the ban will be in full effect in 45 days. This would prohibit TikTok from being uploaded from Apple and Google’s App Stores. Incidentally, though TikTok originates from China, the video-sharing app is also banned on Chinese soil.

With the app being up for grabs, tech giant Microsoft has said that they are working to acquire the TikTok from China’s ByteDance LTD. Microsoft has addressed Trump’s privacy concerns and said that it is committed to acquiring the video-sharing platform, and it will ensure that it passes a complete security review prior to adoption. The multinational tech company has also pointed out that the video-sharing app has reaped significant economic benefits for the US and the United States Treasury Department.

The Rise of Cryptocurrencies

With China and the US caught in high political tensions and the global economy undergoing an unsteady shift due to the pandemic, crypto traders are looking to secure their digital assets, with the recent bull run of digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) on the market.

Over the weekend, ChainLink also outdid itself and its native token LINK surged by a record-high of 52 percent. At the beginning of 2020, LINK’s price was estimated to be around $1.73, but with its recent performance on the crypto market, LINK reached an all-time high of $13,88. ChainLink has greatly benefitted from the rise of decentralized finance apps and is currently ranked sixth in terms of market capitalization on CoinMarketCap.

Branching Out to Blockchain

Due to the escalating US-China political tensions, investors appear to be increasingly seeking out alternative investments such as digital currencies, as it runs on decentralized ledgers and open source technologies. Cryptocurrencies are therefore not regulated by the State, and its open-source aspect provides security for traders.

As they run on a distributed protocol, blockchain technology might be a more secure way to diverge. While applications are attached to legal liabilities and sanctions, blockchain operates on servers and nodes worldwide. It is also harder to prohibit protocols than to ban applications, according to Forbes.

With privacy concerns being an ongoing issue that tech companies have to deal with as they find a middle ground between intrusiveness and privacy, blockchain technology has been an interesting alternative, as blockchain provides a decentralized platform, security, and lower costs. Blockchain is the underlying technology that cryptocurrencies are leveraged on, and though some countries have banned the use of cryptocurrencies, blockchain is still leveraged by companies.

DBS Bank Claims COVID-19 Accelerated Central Banks' Interest in Digital Currencies

Singaporean multinational Bank DBS Bank in its latest paper on digital currencies has pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic has caused a “troubled and intrigued” dilemma for central banks around the world with respect to digital currencies and payments.

The report noted that while central banks and monetary authorities stalled, private entities have adapted to government regulations to churn out tons of private tokens that have multiplied over time. Of all the digital currencies out there, the DBS Bank data shows Bitcoin’s massive lead against other altcoins.

In a way to wade off increasing influence by private firms, The Marina Bay-based banking giant acknowledged most central banks saw the need to fast-track their research and development involving digital currencies. This rekindled interest was necessary to “maintain control over money supply and transactions.”

“Central banks have led the way in money creation through digital means for over half a century. Today they are at once troubled and intrigued by the innovation and expansion taking place in financial technology,” the paper reads. Interest in digital currencies during the pandemic became more necessitated following the notion that massive stimulus payment in fiat currencies like the dollar can drive inflation.

The DBS research stated that “..since central banks around the world embarked on an unprecedented expansion of their balance sheets to combat the COVID-19 pandemic-related economic headwinds, interest in cryptocurrencies, along with gold, has resurged.” This interest became pronounced in the US as Democrats proposed the distribution of the coronavirus stimulus funds to unbanked citizens using Digital Dollars (USDT).

Profiling Cryptocurrency Surge by Region

DBS Bank research also profiled digital currency adoption and usage by Countries. Asian countries led by China tops the chart. This project China as a pro-digital currency nation re-emphasizing China’s commitment to becoming the world’s leader in digital currency advances. The report noted:

“Asia is the world’s largest digital payments market, with China comprising almost half of the worldwide transaction value. Measured by traffic, liquidity, and trading volume, half of the world’s top ten crypto exchanges are in Asia.”

China’s dominance became imminent as the Asian giant recorded the establishment of about 10,000 new blockchain companies in the first half of 2020 despite the harsh bites of COVID-19.

This trend may likely not reverse in the coming months and years as President Donald Trump continues to show his lack of support for Bitcoin following his alleged instruction on the clampdown of the first-ever digital currency.

Brock Pierce's Presidential Campaign Enlists Akon as Chief Strategist

Crypto entrepreneur and world-famous R&B and hip-hop singer Akon has announced that he will be endorsing Brock Pierce’s presidential election campaign and joining the crypto venture capitalist’s campaign team.

The Grammy-nominated artist is enthusiastic about this new partnership and will be serving as the chief strategist for Pierce’s campaign this election year. US Presidential election day is to be held on Tuesday, November 3 this year.

Brock Pierce for President

Brock Pierce’s announcement to run for president means big things for the crypto industry, as the former child star is a prominent influence in the world of technology and cryptocurrency. Being a huge entrepreneur himself, Brock Pierce has a track record of building companies up from scratch. In 2018, the former actor of Disney film “The Mighty Ducks” even made it onto Forbes list for wealthiest crypto investors in the world. According to a report by J.D. Durkin, the Bitcoin (BTC) billionaire disclosed his intentions behind running for president, during his campaign announcement:

“Entrepreneurs are essential to the rebuilding of this nation that we love, and I’m running in this race because I know that together we can help build a pathway towards the rebirth of the America we love so much.”

Brittany Kaiser, known for being the official whistleblower behind the Cambridge Analytica scandal of Facebook that erupted and helped the Trump campaign in 2016, touted Brock Pierce’s horn and said that it was “a breath of fresh air to have someone who has spent their life really understanding technology” running for President of the United States. A strong blockchain advocate, Kaiser vouched for Pierce and said that the crypto entrepreneur not only understood how to improve systems to make them more effective, but he also had a unique vision for creating a more inclusive, wholesome political platform.

Crypto Entrepreneur Akon to Build Akon City

Both Brock Pierce and Akon are happy to be collaborating for the crypto venture capitalist’s Presidential election run.

Akon, a huge crypto entrepreneur himself who is currently working on a massive crypto project in Senegal, seems to be the perfect chief strategist for Pierce, as they both have similar visions for crypto’s future. The Grammy-nominated singer and crypto philanthropist has been actively building a futuristic crypto city in Senegal. The crypto-run city, dubbed “Akon City” is to run on its full-fledged official cryptocurrency Akoin, as per the whitepaper released by Akon. Akon City will include a mall, a complex, a police station, residential units, hotels, a police station, a hospital campus, and more.

‘I Have a Dream’ – Akon and Brock Pierce

The addition of Akon to Pierce’s presidential campaign run may mean huge things for the cryptocurrency industry, as the spotlight will most definitely shine on digital assets and the benefits of blockchain for the advancement of world economy.

In speaking about his newly appointed position as chief strategist for Brock Pierce, Akon affirmed that Brock Pierce is a “real people’s person and he doesn’t operate between party lines.” He also said that both Pierce and he had the “same dream of pushing America forward for everyone without showing favoritism to one particular base.”

US Congressmen Urge Trump to Implement Blockchain Technology for COVID-19 Relief

Nine members of the US Congress advocated for the benefits of leveraging blockchain technology to counter the crisis brought upon by COVID-19.

The letter was drafted by the Congressional Blockchain Caucus and led by the four co-chairs Tom Emmer, Bill Foster, David Schweikert, and Darren Soto. They addressed the letter to US President Donald Trump and federal regulators, urging them to consider blockchain technology as a viable strategy to alleviate the economic impacts of COVID-19. With the increase in demand for funding and medical attention, the architecture of blockchain would enable “seamless identification while its strong encryption protects sensitive data.”

The letter read:

“We are living in extraordinary times that have forced us to depend upon digital solutions like never before.”

Blockchain benefits

In addition, by employing blockchain, the US Congressmen said that the financial support packages that the US government planned on distributing to eligible individuals would be transferred in an efficient, flexible, and secure manner. They advocated that blockchain technology would greatly benefit the population for coronavirus relief purposes, in times when everything is done remotely.

The bill also explained that blockchain technology would enable an individual’s identity to be protected digitally during the authentication process and that it would offer a secure storage system, due to its strong encryption features. The decentralized ledger technology would also facilitate necessary funding transfers when individuals received government benefits. US Congressmen also explained that there were numerous ways in which the decentralized ledger technology could be utilized to improve digital interactions and maintain a “reliable, accurate, flexible, and secure” digital infrastructure that would be greatly beneficial for the country’s overall economic prosperity.

The proposal read:

“There are numerous examples in which blockchain technology can ease the way in which we interact digitally. Among some of the potential solutions, blockchain can assist with include identity, supply chains, and registries.”

The lawmakers suggested that blockchain could be leveraged not only for supply chain management but also to store registries for licensed medical staff and front-line healthcare workers. This would enable a more efficient identification system and skilled medical attention could then be deployed more efficiently, alleviating the burden caused by the pandemic.

Trump Proposes Capital Gains Tax Cut

COVID-19 has severely impacted every industry, causing a whirlwind of financial, social, and economic problems worldwide. Unemployment is at an all-time high, with every country scrambling to salvage its economy during the crisis.

In August, Trump proposed a capital gains tax cut that “could create more job opportunities”, as he specified at a White House press conference. This came to the attention of American cryptocurrency and Bitcoin traders, as the measure, if implemented, would enable those staking on Proof-of-Stake blockchains, such as Cardano and Ethereum 2.0, to keep more of the profits reaped.

Microsoft Loses TikTok to Tech Giant Oracle – What This Means for Bitcoin and Blockchain Industry

TikTok, the multibillion-dollar video sharing platform owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance and popularized by millennials and Gen Z, has chosen Oracle Corporation as its tech partner over Microsoft.

Trump: TikTok is a Threat to National Security

The news comes at a crucial time after US President Donald Trump had vehemently decreed that TikTok must sell its operations in the United States by September 15, stipulating that the social media app was a threat to national security due to it sneakily collecting user information, as revealed by an analysis from Wall Street Journal.

President Trump had accused TikTok, which is fully owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, of gathering information of millions of US users and of sharing the confidential data with the Chinese government. Parent company ByteDance has denied all claims directed towards it regarding data and security breach.

In order to keep the operations in the US, Microsoft had previously been working in collaboration with Walmart to acquire ownership of TikTok. However, after its offer was released, it was disclosed to Bloomberg that “Oracle Corp. is the winning bidder for a deal with TikTok’s US operations.”

US-China, Caught in a Tech and Blockchain Battle

President Trump’s previous user data breach allegations directed at TikTok come at a critical time, with presidential elections looming and set for the month of November. In addition, the US and China have been caught in a cold technology war, with the rise of blockchain and China gaining tremendous momentum in the race to be the first to release an officially regulated central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Previously, Donald Trump had publicly stated:

“As far as Tiktok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.”

Why did TikTok Pick Oracle?

Though Microsoft had jumped at the opportunity of acquiring TikTok’s US assets, which boasts of over 150 million users, the booming video-sharing application has gone another way and chosen Oracle Corp. as its tech partner in the United States. Microsoft announced in an official statement on Sept. 13:

“ByteDance let us know today that they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests.”

The multinational tech company added, “We would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation.”

Will President Trump be Appeased?

Oracle has not released an official statement or commented on the situation yet. However, it is speculated that in partnering with ByteDance and acquiring TikTok, Oracle will conduct a restructuring of the video application. In any case, if the multibillion-dollar application was to survive in the United States market, it seems as though Oracle would have no choice but to do so, to appease President Trump’s fears of a national security breach and potential espionage from the Chinese government.

Furthermore, with Oracle in the works to buy TikTok US operations, this would enable TikTok’s data to run on Oracle’s cloud servers.

Bitcoin and Crypto Implications

At the time of writing, there is still speculation on whether Trump will be appeased with the partnership between Oracle and TikTok. If the US President decides to go forward with a ban of TikTok, this may result in other decentralized social media platforms picking up the American GenZ subscribers that were formerly subscribed to the video-sharing application. Downloaded around 2 billion times globally, TikTok boasts of approximately 100 million monthly active users in the United States.

Block.one, a high-performance blockchain platform that hosts its social media platform Voice, would be among those benefitting from a TikTok ban. If the partnership between TikTok and Oracle proves to be unsatisfactory for the White House and the Trump administration, other blockchain-based social media giants would greatly benefit. Subsequently, this may result in a cryptocurrency and Bitcoin (BTC) market boom as well.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $10,357.18, dipping by 1% since yesterday. The dip is speculated to be a result of crypto miner sell-offs, and investors are actively anticipating the digital asset’s next bull run, with Bitcoin bulls like the Winklevoss twins pumping up the price.

How Blockchain Can Benefit TikTok

There seems to be much work to be done for TikTok. According to a report released by CheckPoint Research on January 8, the dilemmas that the application encountered were – hacking of TikTok user accounts and manipulating content; deleting videos; uploading unauthorized videos; making private “hidden” videos public, and revealing personal information saved on the account, such as private email addresses.

More research seems to indicate that ByteDance could greatly benefit from leveraging blockchain as a solution to fight security problems encountered by TikTok. Employing blockchain to run its application would enable the personal data of millions of influencers and content creators worldwide to be better protected and secured through a distributed decentralized ledger. Blockchain has been increasingly adopted throughout Asia and Europe for its robustness, scalability, and overall stable architecture.

DeFi Booms – Aave Dominates

Currently, Ethereum is the most leveraged blockchain ecosystem for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and projects. The decentralized finance sector is estimated to have a total value locked (TVL) of around $8 billion, according to data from DeFi Pulse. Currently, DeFi protocol Aave is leading the pack, with a TVL of $1.50 billion at the time of writing.