There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Trump Bashes Bitcoin

Donald Trump posted a tweet earlier today in which he openly bashed Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies. According to the US president, crypto is not money, it’s based on thin air, it’s highly volatile, and it facilitates illegal activity like drug trade.

I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

Libra Is in the Spotlight As Well

Trump has similar views on Facebook’s upcoming cryptocurrency, expecting Libra to have “little standing or dependability.”

According to the POTUS, Facebook must seek a banking charter, becoming subject to all national and international banking regulations in order to provide financial services.

….Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National… – Trump Said

Ironically, Trump also grabbed the chance to shill the dollar, claiming that it is “stronger than ever” as well as the “most dominant currency” in the world.

…and International. We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!

There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

Despite Trump’s crypto bash, the predominant sentiment within the cryptocurrency community is that his words were actually good news. As we all know, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

With almost 62 million followers on Twitter, Trump has made crypto famous by getting 12,300 retweets, 41,000 likes, and 12,600 comments (and counting) just from his first tweet.

It appears that this is one of the most powerful advertising campaigns crypto has ever benefited from. And it was completely free.

On the good side Trump has advertised crypto to the entire world practically. Thank you Mr. President.

— Kieran Kelly 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇧🇧 (@kieranmlkelly) July 12, 2019

The Trump Effect

Following Trump’s tweet, all major cryptocurrency markets experienced an uptrend, with BTC gaining over $400 in three hours after a significant downturn on Thursday.

The biggest winners from Trump’s bashing are Stellar, Cardano, and Binance Coin which gained 8.1%, 4.7%, and 8.3% in 24 hours, respectively.

Furthermore, according to Google Trends, US searches for the term “bitcoin” significantly increased – from 41 to 100 – after Trump’s tweets.