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US President Donald Trump says he got involved in crypto \u201cfor politics\u201d and became pro-crypto after seeing how much money the industry was making.<\/p>\n
At a press conference<\/a> in the Oval Office on Monday to announce \u201cTrump Accounts,\u201d an investment account for children under 18, Trump was asked whether the accounts would allow for Bitcoin (BTC).<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve become a big crypto guy only for one reason: If we don\u2019t have it, China\u2019s going to have it,\u201d Trump answered. \u201cI\u2019m a fan, I wasn\u2019t initially, I didn\u2019t know much about it, but, for some of my first term, I wasn\u2019t much involved, and I watched it grow, and it’s a huge industry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got involved in it a little bit for politics,\u201d Trump added. \u201cI realized there are a lot of people that love crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n The comments shed new light on why Trump pivoted his stance towards crypto. In his first term, Trump said he was \u201cnot a fan\u201d of crypto and called Bitcoin \u201ca scam.\u201d Since then, he and his family have built deep business interests in crypto, and Trump has faced criticism for his pro-crypto stance while being connected to the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a businessman, I see a lot of money starting to come in with Bitcoin and, you know, the different forms, and I said: \u2018This thing\u2019s got a lot of life,\u2019 and then I hear China was going to make a heavy move on it,\u201d he added. \u201cIf we didn\u2019t do it, China would do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s pro-crypto pivot attracted the help of the crypto lobby, which spent around $170 million in the 2024 election to help elect mostly Republicans, and is set to spend even more backing pro-crypto candidates in the November midterms.<\/p>\n Donald Trump speaks to reporters about \u201cTrump Accounts\u201d at the White House on Monday. Source: <\/em>YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Trump said he doesn\u2019t talk to his family about their involvement in crypto, an area that made him more than $1.4 billion last year, according to financial disclosures released<\/a> June 30.<\/p>\n Trump and his sons are listed as co-founders of World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform that generated a large portion of Trump\u2019s crypto-related income last year, but the president said his interest in crypto is \u201cnot a question of a personal thing.\u201d<\/p>\nTrump says he doesn\u2019t talk to family about crypto interests<\/h2>\n