Donald Trump’s honeymoon with the cryptocurrency industry may be over, or at least the Dogecoin campaign contributions he received last month are likely worth significantly less now than they were three weeks ago.
That’s because, like many stocks, cryptocurrency prices aren’t doing so well right now. Bitcoin prices plummeted 15% in a day, and Ethereum similarly fell 21% in 24 hours, according to a report from Coindesk. Popular exchange Coinbase fell 17%. Many other cryptocurrency-related companies have seen similarly devastating declines.
Indeed, the cryptocurrency market is in what observers are calling a “worst case scenario.” The latest panic in the industry is being blamed by some on a series of unusually large asset transfers by trading firm Jump Trading. Citing blockchain data, The Block wrote that the company “appears to be selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.” Jump Trading “unstaked” $315 million worth of Ether during the period and sent it to exchanges, giving the impression that it plans to sell off much of its inventory. This apparent liquidation appears to have scared other investors in the cryptocurrency market, encouraging them to sell funds as well. The same recession fears that are rampant across the market could also be fueling the selloff as crypto traders seek to avoid losses amid a worsening market.
In short, right now is a really bad time to get into crypto… which is why it’s so amusing to see former President Donald Trump announce his newfound support for the cryptocurrency industry last week.
Yes, Trump attended the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee last weekend to drum up political support from the tech industry. At the conference, Trump expressed enthusiasm for the digital asset and garnered endorsements from industry heavyweights. His campaign website even allows for crypto donations through a portal that includes integrations with Coinbase and Gemini. As of last week, the MAGA/meme coin coalition seemed to be off to a great start, but unfortunately, the industry is now in chaos. Like a rookie trader, Trump appears to have entered the market at exactly the wrong time. Great job!
Yet while Trump’s moderate shitcoin donations may be taking a hit, the volatile stock market has given him a powerful political weapon. Trump’s allies have been quick to weaponize the economic downturn and use it to smear the Biden-Harris administration. #KamalaKrash trended on X/Twitter on Monday as the right blamed the current administration for the market’s troubles. “Stock market crashing, jobs numbers are awful, we’re heading for World War 3,” Trump posted on Truth Social after launching the branding “Trump Cash vs. Kamala Krash!”
Kamalanomics is the same as Bidenomics #KamalaCrush #Stock market crash pic.twitter.com/NIv3YpDhdv
— Politi_Rican 🇵🇷 𝕏 🇺🇸 (@TheRicanMemes) August 5, 2024
Many economists believe it is the Federal Reserve, not the White House, that has slowed job growth and created panic in the markets. Critics argue that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s refusal to cut interest rates has put the economy at greater risk. It should be noted that it was Trump, not Biden, who appointed Chairman Powell to his current position. Chairman Powell has also ignored the advice of progressive Democrats (and Biden), who have warned that the policy could trigger a recession and urged him to cut interest rates. Conversely, Trump has been urging Chairman Powell to cut interest rates in recent weeks. do not have By cutting interest rates ahead of a presidential election, he would be endorsing the very forces experts blame for the economy’s slump.
Yet despite lingering inflation and fears of a recession, the U.S. economy remains relatively strong: More than 15 million new jobs have been added under Biden’s administration, and the unemployment rate hit a 53-year low last January.
