Can Trump Still Support Crypto After Election? Critics Say He’s “Just Doing It for Votes”

A potential victory for Donald Trump in the November election could lead to the dismissal of several crypto lawsuits from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, one cryptocurrency lawyer said, but others noted he has a history of not keeping his promises.

“I will not settle any crypto cases with the current SEC until I see the results of the election,” James Murphy, a cryptocurrency attorney known as “MetaLawMan,” wrote in a May 26 post.

In light of Trump’s recent cryptocurrency promises, Murphy expects “a very different situation to emerge at the SEC.”

Over the past month, Trump has positioned himself as the cryptocurrency industry’s choice, saying he is “great” about cryptocurrencies and that the U.S. “has to be a leader in this space,” and recently promised to commut the life sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht if elected.

Murphy added: “I can imagine that [SEC Chairman] Gary Gensler’s team would voluntarily dismiss a cryptocurrency case where there was no fraud and no victims.”

Source: James Murphy

Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, claimed in an X post that Trump has a “decades-long history of selling out” and a history of “selling out others for his own gain.”

He added: “Like Biden, Trump was previously against cryptocurrencies and is pandering to gain votes.”

Alexander Blume, a partner at Two Prime hedge funds, made a similar argument, commenting that Trump "has a record of making promises to desperate people/groups for his own ends and then not delivering on those promises."

An analysis by fact-checking website PolitiFact said Trump broke more than half of the 102 promises he made during the 2016 presidential campaign, compromised on 23 and kept 24.

Trump also has a history of anti-crypto rhetoric.

As president, Trump tweeted that he was “not a fan of Bitcoin” and other cryptocurrencies because they were “created out of thin air.” In 2021, he also claimed that cryptocurrencies are “probably fake” and are “a disaster waiting to happen.”

However, cryptocurrency lawyer Gabriel Shapiro wrote on X that “Trump made some mean comments about crypto on Twitter,” which cannot be compared to “the Biden administration’s four-year witch hunt against crypto.”

Trump’s past record of crypto rhetoric and campaign promises was not enough to sway some U.S. crypto industry executives.

Mike Dudas, a venture capitalist and founder of cryptocurrency website The Block, said that while he disliked Trump "on 1,000 different levels," his pledge meant "he will allow me to pursue my livelihood and provide support for my family, investors, founders and their employees."

In Morning Consult's 2024 presidential election poll, Trump leads Joe Biden by one percentage point.

The United States will hold a general election on November 5th.