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08/08 update below. This post was originally published on August 07
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The bitcoin price and the wider crypto market were caught up in a huge stock market sell-off this week as traders panic about global interest rates—with Coinbase warning of further pain to come.
Now, after former U.S. president Donald Trump floated the possibility of paying off the U.S. spiraling $35 trillion debt with bitcoin, two of Trump’s sons have teased a major crypto announcement.
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Former U.S. president Donald Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference last month, fueling a … [+]
Two of former U.S. president Donald Trump’s sons, Eric and Don Jr., have teased a “big” crypto announcement they say is coming.
“I have truly fallen in love with crypto [and decentralized finance (DeFi)],” Eric Trump posted to X. “Stay tuned for a big announcement.” Don Jr. added: “Big things coming. This is the future.”
The pair didn’t share any more details on the plans and didn’t mention bitcoin specifically, which has been the focus of former president Trump’s crypto comments.
08/08 update: Don Jr. posted a small update to X on Wednesday, teasing: “We’re about to shake up the crypto world with something huge. Decentralized finance is the future—don’t get left behind,” and adding the hashtag “#BeDeFiant.”
Steven Zheng, research director at bitcoin and crypto news site The Blockhas linked Don Jr. to Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate and friend of former president Trump, who earlier this week wrote an X post using the same hashtag as Don Jr.—#BeDeFiant
“We’re on the verge of something game-changing in crypto and DeFi,” Witkoff posted. “Bringing financial power and freedom back to the people—get ready.”
Trump promised to create a “strategic national bitcoin reserve” and predicted bitcoin could eclipse gold’s $16 trillion market capitalization during a headline speech at the the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last month.
“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future, we’ll keep 100%,” Trump said during his speech. “This will serve, in effect, as the core of the strategic national bitcoin stockpile.”
Trump then raised eyebrows when he suggested in an interview that the U.S. government could pay off its $35 trillion debt pile with bitcoin.
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The bitcoin price has crashed back this week, dropping away from its all-time high of over $70,000 … [+]
“Crypto is a very interesting thing,” Trump told Fox Business. “Maybe we’ll pay off our $35 trillion dollars, hand them a little crypto check, right? We’ll hand them a little bitcoin and wipe out our $35 trillion.”
Meanwhile, the Donald Trump-themed DJT memecoin has crashed 90% after a single wallet sold $2 million worth in a single transaction, bringing its market capitalization down to $3 million from $55 million within seconds, Coindesk reported.
In June, “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli claimed without evidence he and Trump’s son Barron created DJT.