Former US President and current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump once again promised voters that he will not allow Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) under his watch. This time, he also revealed a new reason why he is strongly opposed to the idea.
Why Donald Trump Opposes CBDCs
The 45th US President who is now staging his comeback for the 2024 elections repeated his resolute stance against CBDCs in his Laconia, New Hampshire rally yesterday. This time, Trump credited the tech-savvy and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for explaining to him the nature of CBDCs and what they can do.
“Vivek is great,” started the Republican favorite. “But he wanted this, and I give him full credit for…”
“It’s very important actually… I will never allow the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency,” said Trump, which was once again met with applause by the people in attendance.
Trump’s statement echoes the same sentiment he had earlier as he called these digital financial instruments as a way for the government to rob people of their money. He also referred to CBDCs as a “dangerous threat to freedom” because they give the regime a ticket to control the people’s money and enable it to seize their finances without due process.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strong Support for Crypto
Ramaswamy has been very vocal in his support for cryptocurrency regulation during the early leg of the presidential campaign. Along the way, he bravely named US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for his adversarial yet seemingly uninformed views on cryptocurrencies.
One particular event that displayed Gensler’s lack of expertise in the field of cryptos was when he couldn’t even determine whether or not Ether was a security in a Congressional hearing. Ramaswamy commented that the regulator’s answer was “nothing short of embarrassing.”
As a side note, it was the same instance when Congressman Tom Emmer chastised Gensler for “being an incompetent cop on the beat” as he blamed the SEC head for driving the major crypto players out of the US, for letting the FTX fiasco happen, and for his agency’s lack of regulatory clarity on the matter.
Ramaswamy’s knowledge and growing influence on Trump, especially when it comes to FinTech, could prove to be a major game-changer in the industry should he get a key position in the White House if the former president successfully stages a comeback.