The election is over, and Trump will become president again. He accomplished something that hadn’t been done since Grover Cleveland in the 1800s: successful re-election after losing his first term. Many in this space are celebrating this as some sort of victory for Bitcoin, but that is very far from reality.
Ross (Ulbricht) will probably be released. Trump is far too conceited to go back on such a trivial campaign promise to keep, so he probably will. It’s too easy, and he’ll be able to brag about it and take all the credit that goes with it, so it will definitely happen.
But that’s where any meaningful initiative will stop. A strategic bitcoin reserve will not see the light of day without congressional approval. Even seized assets, by law, must be sold on the open market. Nothing within the scope of authority that I know of Trump allows him to unilaterally push the federal government to start buying bitcoin. Even if, by some miracle, Congress passed such legislation, how would it benefit Bitcoin? A government hoarding Bitcoin will neither make it more scalable, nor more private, nor safe from government abuse and interference. Nor would it help pay off our debt: the price increase necessary for such a result is, frankly, an illusion.
The most likely result is a continuation of the same policies followed until now. More attacks on Bitcoin transaction privacy. No more invasive regulations in the form of KYC (know your customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) requirements. Miners will likely face increased scrutiny as Bitcoin continues to gain more prominence on the global political stage. The question of their responsibility and their involvement in the validation of sanctioned or “undesirable” transactions has already been circulating for several years in Washington, and the tone of these discussions risks becoming more serious.
Exchanges and other entry/exit points will likely be pushed to monitor their users even more invasively, under the guise of combating terrorism, crime, child trafficking, etc. All the traditional scarecrows of the digital world will be used, and the regulatory grip will tighten. Certainly, Trump could campaign to make self-custody a right, but will this be enough to offer real freedom without confidentiality? Without resistance to censorship?
Trump even spoke in Nashville about regulations and the expansion of stablecoins. “Those who see Bitcoin as a threat to the dollar are completely wrong. » He wants to promote dollar-backed stablecoins around the world, exploiting a new avenue to export our inflation without the need for diplomacy. People in other countries will simply be able to use them, without their government needing to dollarize their economy or hold dollar reserves. Just download an app and start using them. The approach he wants to take towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will breathe new life into the dollar and push Bitcoin onto a path of stagnation and capture.
People are applauding this as a victory for Bitcoin, but in reality it is the start of a new battle. The question remains open: will we be able to get through this ordeal and come out of it without having to make serious, even dramatic, compromises?
Original article written by Shinobi.
