Crypto & Digital Assets
‘Bitcoin Unphased By Trump’s Crypto Twitter Tirade,’ Says CoinCorner CEO
15 Jul 2019
President Trump seems to have opened yet another battle front in his relentless struggle against mostly everything he doesn’t really agree with. This time, the US President went on to Twitter – his favourite media – to say that he is “not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies”. He branded them “unregulated crypto assets” and based on “thin air.”
Despite his political position and following, and similarly with Facebook’s recent Libra coin announcement, the price of Bitcoin remains mostly unaffected. The current price at time of writing is trading at over $10,000, and seems stable.
“Those of us in the Bitcoin industry have known for a long time that world events very rarely impact Bitcoin anymore, and it’s great to see this being proven time and time again,” said CoinCorner’s CEO, Danny Scott.
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) 12 July 2019
The President went on to say that “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity. “These comments imply that he is uneducated on Bitcoin and misinformed on what it is actually being used for nowadays. In the early days of Bitcoin, it had a reputation for being used for illicit purposes, but this view is outdated. Bitcoin has grown in popularity with the masses, and become part of day to day life as people utilise it as a beneficial store of wealth. What’s more, Bitcoin exchanges around the world, including CoinCorner, abide by KYC (“know-your-customer”) and AML (anti-money laundering) regulations, and have stringent processes in place to prevent misuse by criminals,” continued Mr Scott.
However and as far as the “dependable and reliable” US Dollar is concerned, it’s also very well-known that fiat currencies facilitate more criminal activity than cryptocurrencies. “The U.S. Treasury actually confirmed in a panel hearing in 2017 that “Although virtual currencies are used for illicit transactions, the volume is small compared to the volume of illicit activity through traditional financial services”, Scott kept on saying.
Unlike what President Trump terms “real currencies”, all transactions made with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are recorded on the blockchain (a digital ledger) and are visible for anyone to see. Compared to this, paper money like USD, GBP and EUR are especially difficult to keep track of because of their physical nature, making them far easier for criminals to misuse.
