Fraud king Donald Trump goes all-in on crypto politics
The fleecing of Trump's MAGA movement enters crypto phase
As far as anyone can tell, cryptocurrency is a giant scam – a towering stack of Ponzi con fraudulence that is mostly useful to drug traffickers.
"Crypto is basically a pyramid scheme, with early investors dumping their tokens when the price rises," wrote Jonathan Taplin in The End of Reality: How 4 Billionaires Are Selling a Fantasy Future of the Metaverse, Mars and Crypto.
I have recently been doing a deep dive on cryptocurrency. Most of the books written so far appear to reach this stark conclusion.
By convincing people to pay "real money for fake money," the people at the top of the crypto pyramid have amassed tremendous wealth. And now these wealthy "cryptopians" want to translate that wealth into political power. They very openly seek to topple the US dollar and replace it with crypto.
And in 2024, these crypto guys are becoming a major force in American politics. A $200 million crypto-funded PAC has quickly become one of the major players in this election cycle. Its main goal is to stock Congress with crypto-friendly politicians and, of course, to influence the presidential race.
"Attacking crypto means risking your seat," declared Balaji Srinivasan, the former chief technology officer of Coinbase who is also the chief voice of the Network State cult. (He's also the guy who wants tech bros in San Francisco to form a gray-clad tribe and partner with the police to purge Democrats from the city.)
Today – on the same day Donald Trump is slated to be interviewed by serial crypto pumper Elon Musk – the Trump family is expected to enter the crypto market with a new product designed to take full advantage of the crypto craze. Early reports suggest that the Trump family will announce a new cryptocurrency platform designed to "take on the banks." (This seems like a very odd thing to do while running for president, but we're far beyond pretending that appearances, ethics and morals are a concern for Trump.)
"Donald Trump Jr. has announced plans to launch a new decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptocurrency platform to address inequality in banking access," reports Cointelegraph. "However, the platform is still in the early stages and will take some time to become a reality."
Crypto: The latest Trump scam
This crypto scam is the latest in a long line of schemes to monetize Trump's celebrity and fleece his supporters. Unsurprisingly, the man who launched failed ventures to sell vodka, steaks, universities, water – etc. – is now trying to cash in on crypto. Of course, it hardly matters that Trump previously dismissed Bitcoin as a "scam" that was "based on thin air." It is now in his best interest to build a "crypto army," and so he has completely flipped.
In a way, Donald Trump is already a form of crypto: a towering stack of criminal gold-plated fraudulence that relies on the gullibility of poor suckers to increase his value. And like the main figures in the crypto industry, Trump is after more than money. The real goal is power.
My current research is focused on how some of the major players in the crypto industry are betting against democracy. I won't give away the whole story now, but they are very open about their desire to topple the US dollar and "decentralize" the world. This includes replacing nation-states like the United States with smaller "patchworks" or "network states" that would basically act as fiefdoms for crypto billionaires. My previous writings on the extremist ideas of Curtis Yarvin and Balaji Srinivasan have focused on this aspect.
"Bitcoin, if it wins, completely changes the world, because it changes the ability of centralized states to do what they’ve been doing," said Srinivasan at a Bitcoin conference last year.
What exactly does that mean? Stay tuned.
Big Crypto seeks to challenge democracy
Srinivasan is not alone. Others in the crypto industry – including many who would never speak these ideas out loud – hold the same view. As Big Crypto points a $200 million PAC at the US political system, it's important to understand what its masters truly want. Here is the simple answer, which I have written before: Just as they have created new forms of currency to challenge the dollar, they seek to create new forms of government to replace democracy.
The big question now: Will the US government aid in its own proposed demise by bowing to the demands of the crypto bros and propping up the legitimacy of these pipe dream currencies? With Trump going all-in, and with the Kamala Harris campaign telegraphing a desire to form a positive relationship with crypto, it seems like a possibility.
I'm in the midst of constructing an intricate and towering piece on the subject. In the meantime, here are some informative pieces that have influenced my thinking:
1) Dave Troy of the Washington Spectator has been way ahead of the pack on this stuff. This longer piece traces the history of right-wing extremists and "goldbugs" in trying to topple the US currency system:
2) John Cassidy of the New Yorker looks at the ridiculousness of Trump's newfound crypto fervor. One politician has even floated the idea of using taxpayer dollars to create a national "Bitcoin Reserve":
Again, there is comedic value here. The crypto bros, many of whom style themselves as libertarians, often argue that one of the great things about Bitcoin is its independence from governments. Here comes a Republican senator proposing to spend more than sixty billion dollars of taxpayers’ money (given the current price of bitcoin) to acquire about five per cent of the entire stock of the cryptocurrency.
3) The Kings of Crypto by Jeff John Roberts tells the story of the rise of Coinbase. It's chock full of interesting detail, including the fact that former Balaji Srinivasan apparently subsists on a diet of Tate's Bake Shop cookies crumbled in a bowl of half and half (!).
Jeff John Roberts
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