Trump's encryption script surfaces: dual tracks of policy and wealth progress.

Source: The Atlantic

Original Title: Trump’s Crypto Playbook Is Now Clear

Compilation and arrangement: BitpushNews

His business interests are now highly aligned with the policy agenda.

The crypto world has always felt like the bar is extremely high. The technology itself is complex enough, not to mention the jargon and subculture etiquette that belongs only to insiders. But even if you don't understand what DePIN or zk-SNARKs are, one need now look at the lineup of Bitcoin 2025 guests to get a glimpse into the current state of the industry: the event was filled with jokes of meme coin promoters, real cypherpunks, and a few self-proclaimed "Gwart" crypto podcasters — and a host of Wall Street executives who waited for Bitcoin to reach $100,000 before getting "serious."

And, of course, there are quite a few believers in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) camp. Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, Trump's eldest sons, and David Sacks, the White House's "head of crypto affairs," gave speeches. Their main message is: "Trump and crypto are a match made in heaven." ”
"What you are doing in this conference room is essentially the financial version of what we have been striving for in the realm of free speech." Donald Trump Jr. said this during a conversation with the CEO of the right-wing social platform Rumble, adding, "The two are inseparable."

In other words, they want to tell us that Trump genuinely cares about the long-held idea of "civil liberties" in the Bitcoin Circle. ** This narrative sounds beautiful and is an "idealized package" used to explain why the president, who once openly questioned Bitcoin, suddenly turned around. Of course, this explanation also masks a more realistic side: over the past year, the Trump family has launched two meme coins and announced a controlling stake in a new crypto company called World Liberty Financial. As I've previously written, crypto has quickly become the new label for the "Trump family business": last month, Trump also held a private dinner at a golf course outside Washington for the largest investor in his $TRUMP token.

But this layer of connection is far more complex than just a few commercial investments. His government has also simultaneously promoted a highly biased "pro-crypto" policy route — including loosening regulations and withdrawing some lawsuits against crypto companies. The same week that small Trump appeared at the Bitcoin conference, the U.S. Department of Labor also relaxed a guidance issued during the Biden administration — this regulation originally restricted Americans from investing their 401(k) retirement accounts in cryptocurrencies due to their high price volatility and risk. Now, this regulatory language has been removed, effectively dismantling the protective barriers and indirectly encouraging more people to invest their retirement funds into the crypto market. This move could drive up the prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which naturally also indirectly benefits the Trump family's asset portfolio. Ultimately, Trump's crypto ambitions are both a matter of national policy and a personal wealth strategy.

encryption is becoming the "universal adhesive" of the Trump administration.

Just look at Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group, which was the parent company of his right-wing social networking platform, Truth Social, which was initially incompatible with crypto but has now moved closer to crypto. At the end of last month, Trump Media announced that it would raise $2.5 billion to buy Bitcoin, which is equivalent to setting up a "corporate bitcoin reserve" for the company. "We see Bitcoin as the pinnacle tool for financial freedom," they said. CEO Devin Nunes (former Republican Congressman) said.
This "utopian language" aside, this so-called "Bitcoin Reserve" is actually pegging the share price of Trump Media (symbol $DJT) to Bitcoin. This multibillion-dollar investment is certainly good for the crypto market, but it's also good for Trump himself, because a lot of his personal wealth is now deeply tied to crypto assets. (Notably, neither the White House nor the Trump media responded to the author's request for comment.) ）

Does this approach sound familiar? That's right, it is similar to the "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" proposed by the White House in March this year, which is part of the United States' plan to establish a global leadership position in cryptocurrency. Whether by governments or enterprises, such large-scale investments serve the same purpose: to add "legitimacy" to crypto assets and enhance their long-term viability as an asset class. Trump's approach to promoting cryptocurrency is a "two-pronged" strategy: the White House sets the tone, while the family business follows up in the capital markets.

Everything was already in place, and "de-regulation" became the booster.

In fact, even before getting involved in the cryptocurrency business, Trump had already clearly positioned himself on the side of cryptocurrency in terms of policy. He promised during his campaign to fire the Biden administration's "crypto regulator"—SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, a move that won him a substantial amount of donations from cryptocurrency industry backers. In particular, in the wake of the Sam Bankman-Fried collapse, Gensler focused its efforts on crypto firms, a policy that was later derided as "Operation Choke Point 2.0" — an analogy to the Obama-era administration's pressure on banks to cut off partnerships with "gray industries" such as payday lenders.
At the Bitcoin conference, vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance bluntly stated: "Choke Point 2.0 is dead, and the Trump administration will not let it be revived."

The fact is that during Trump's second term, the government has withdrawn more than a dozen lawsuits and investigations against crypto companies. Today, the line between "supporting crypto" and "supporting Trump" has become increasingly blurred, almost merging into one. In the MAGA universe, cryptocurrency, Trump, and "American interests" are described as completely aligned: benefiting one is benefiting the others. For example, even though Trump continues to talk about "bringing manufacturing back to America," his sons are running a cryptocurrency mining company called "American Bitcoin," while Trump Media is promoting a so-called "Made in America" cryptocurrency investment fund. After firing numerous key officials regulating cryptocurrency, Trump injected a large amount of funds into the entire crypto industry, including his own related businesses, of course. Whether it is policy loosening or private investment, the underlying logic is the same: "This is good for America."

Decentralized irony: everything has become the "Trump Standard"

The greatest irony is that the original intention of cryptocurrency was precisely to counteract the "interference of state power." The original intention of Bitcoin's creation was to provide a decentralized financial system that allows for free transfers without the intervention of the state, aiming to create a new order, a world that does not rely on the traditional financial system. (After all, "decentralization" is the underlying logic of encryption.)

But today, in the process of relaxing regulation, releasing benefits, and promoting policies, Trump is actually realizing certain parts of the "early crypto dream"—only, that decentralized, faceless ideal society has now surprisingly turned into a financial order centered around Trump himself.