Eric Trump has said that the US will "fight like hell" to protect cryptocurrencies from overregulation and that he is confident that Bitcoin will hit $1 million, in a speech in Abu Dhabi that drew parallels with his father Donald. Riding high on the sector's strength after Mr Trump's victory in last month's US presidential elections, Eric Trump acted as an extension of his father's spectacular support for cryptocurrencies at the Bitcoin Mena conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
“Now that he's won, you're going to have the most pro-crypto president ... the first president to ever embrace crypto,” Mr Trump said, drawing cheers from the audience, some of whom were wearing distinctive red Maga-style baseball caps emblazoned with “Make Bitcoin Great Again”.
"This is the future of finance ... now that he's won, America is going to lead the way in the digital revolution," added Mr Trump, who claimed he immediately notified his father when Bitcoin hit the historic $100,000 mark on December 5. "A lot more eyes are going to be opened when Bitcoin hits $1 million."
He also said his father would be committed to making the US the crypto capital of the world and would protect it from oversight that would hinder its continued growth – an apparent shot at the administration of the outgoing President Joe Biden, which had cracked down on the crypto industry. Under Mr Biden, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued a number of cryptocurrency firms, most notably FTX, which collapsed, leading to the conviction of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
"Think about a president who isn't going to allow Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to be overregulated and stifled by high taxes. Somebody who will fight like hell against those institutions who have waged war on cryptocurrency," Mr Trump said.
"Guys in America, they've waged war against cryptocurrencies. Make no mistake about it. They've sued everybody. They've gone after them using the SEC, they've waged war." The phrase "fight like hell" mirrors words used by Donald Trump that encouraged his supporters to stage the January 6, 2020 insurrection in Washington, when his supporters invaded the US Capitol in a bid to overturn Mr Biden's victory.
In the style of a rowdy Trump campaign rally, the audience burst into applause when he called his father not just a "national treasure to the US" but also "to this world". He repeatedly called him the single-biggest reason for Bitcoin's turnaround and said he was responsible for “adding a trillion dollars to its value”, and for the domino effect on relevant segments and investors.
Mr Trump's speech came at an event that has attracted a revitalised cryptocurrency industry thanks to Donald Trump's strong support for digital assets, which he used on the campaign trail to recapture the White House in convincing fashion.
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The two-day Bitcoin Mena event at Adnec in Abu Dhabi explores the transformative potential of cryptocurrencies. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National -
Shaping the Future: Strategic Leadership & Bitcoin Adoption in the Middle East session at Bitcoin Mena at Adnec in Abu Dhabi on December 10. Panelists from left to right are Aymman Shaikh, BTC; Dr Ayesha Binlootah, Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority; Bilal Ahmed Mir, Carter Capital and Khurram Shroff, 3iQ. -
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, attends Bitcoin Mena -
Delegates at Bitcoin Mena held at Adnec in Abu Dhabi -
Khurram Shroff, adviser at 3iQ, addresses the Shaping the Future session -
Vishal Sacheendran of Binance addresses the question of how nations are shaping Bitcoin’s regulatory landscape -
Dr Ayesha Binlootah of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority talks to the audience at the Shaping the Future session -
Visitors at the Binance stand at Bitcoin Mena -
Aymman Shaikh of BTC during the Shaping the Future session at Bitcoin Mena -
Harris Irfan of CCM and Onramp Mena shares his thoughts on Islamic fiat banking at Bitcoin Mena on December 10 -
Visitors at Bitcoin Mena at Adnec in Abu Dhabi -
Saifedean Ammous from Saifedean.com addresses the session on Bitcoin: A New Frontier for Islamic Finance at Bitcoin Mena -
AJ Nelson, co-founder of Rain, discusses regulation at Bitcoin Mena held at Adnec in Abu Dhabi -
Sudhu Arumugam of M2 also spoke on regulation at Bitcoin Mena
He was joined at Bitcoin Mena by a couple of big names from his father's team in Steve Witkoff, who has been appointed US special envoy to the Middle East, and Paul Manafort, campaign manager for Donald Trump's run in 2016. Mr Trump has kept a lower profile than his siblings, Donald Jr and Ivanka, who both held prominent White House roles during their father's first term. He is the executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, the family's sprawling global real estate conglomerate.
But now he is shaping up to become one of his father's most vocal frontmen for the cryptocurrency industry, taking up the president-elect's spectacular shift when it comes to digital assets. Another crypto proponent, Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk, has been named co-head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which shares the Doge abbreviation with the world's biggest memecoin.
Donald Trump was once a crypto sceptic. In his first term, he derided Bitcoin and its peers as “not money”, “based on thin air” and something that “can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity", and even called it a “scam” after he left office.
The turning point was when he began selling non-fungible tokens depicting himself as a superhero in December 2022, a month after he declared his intention to run for president again. He raised $8.9 million in the process, which apparently proved to him that crypto can be beneficial. It may have also helped that the vice president-elect, current Ohio Senator JD Vance, has been known to hold Bitcoin since 2021.
Eric Trump also took aim at traditional financial institutions and investment tools, saying blockchain and cryptocurrencies are better investments today. "There is nothing that can't be done faster, cheaper, more transparently and really better in this new frontier," he said, vowing the Trump family will continue to be the "greatest cheerleaders and champions" of cryptocurrencies.
