According to former national security advisor John Bolton’s new book ‘The Room Where It Happened,’ the US President Donald Trump wanted to go after bitcoin long before he made his July 2019 Twitter tirade. Donald Trump apparently told Treasury Secretary to “go after” bitcoin back in 2018. The Forbes article about Bolton’s new book reveals Bolton heard Trump tell Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after Bitcoin”. The conversation between the US President and Treasury Secretary was regarding trade sanctions and tariffs against China in May 2018.
Trump lashed out on bitcoin last year on Twitter.
US President Donald Trump back in July 2019, made a series of tweets showing his disapproval for the leading cryptocurrency, bitcoin. The President called Bitcoin “not money” and “based on thin air”. He continued by attacking Facebook’s Libra token as having “little standing or dependability”. The US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin backed Trump’s position in the media following the July 2019 tweets, saying the White House was “looking at all of the crypto assets.” He even claimed that BTC and other cryptocurrencies are used for money laundering more often than cash is.
US Treasury Secretary had revealed plans to announce new requirements for crypto.
Earlier this year, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said at a hearing that the would announce some significant new requirements for cryptocurrencies with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, alluding to more oversight by the federal government to prevent money laundering. But the mercurial Trump has also taken some decisions that may have benefited cryptocurrency after the conversation alleged by Bolton took place. The President had appointed Mick Mulvaney as the White House chief of staff in 2018. Mulvaney is known pro-Bitcoin official and has called the leading crypto a currency that’s not manipulatable by any government.
