Former President Donald Trump on Monday signaled a shifting tone on how he sees Bitcoin (BTC) as the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency maintains an upward trend, setting a new all-time high when it passed the $72,000 mark.
"If you think of it, it's an additional form of currency. We did a limited edition sneaker run of 1,000 sneakers. And you could go through crazy new currencies," he said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box." He went on to say that he noticed "so many of them [the sneakers] were paid for with this new currency ... you know, cryptocurrency and I couldn't believe the amount."
"If you think of it, it's an additional form of currency. We did a limited edition sneaker run of 1,000 sneakers. And you could go through crazy new currencies," says @realDonaldTrump on #crypto. "I like staying with the dollar. I hate when countries go off the dollar." pic.twitter.com/8NCg4OplKS
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) March 11, 2024
He did say he would still stick with the U.S. dollar, as he hates it "when countries go off the dollar." Still, he said he has "fun with" BTC at times too, and he sometimes lets people "pay through Bitcoin."
Speaking further on the greater cryptocurrency realm, the business mogul acknowledged the expanding use of digital currencies as more people transition to digital payments.
"I have seen there has been a lot of use of that. And, I'm not sure that I'd want to take it away at this point," he noted.
His seemingly softer stance on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies comes over two years since he said, "Bitcoin just seems like a scam ... I don't like it because it's another currency competing against the dollar."
While he did have things to say about BTC, it appears he softened up to Ether (ETH) earlier, as his 2023 financial disclosure filings showed that he had Ethereum assets of up to $500,000.
His mid-2023 filing with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) described an item as "cryptocurrency wallet (Ethereum)" with a stated value of between $250,000 and $500,000. The said wallet is believed to be likely connected with the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) he launched late in 2022, from which his filing stated that he earned $298,000.
Despite his seemingly slower acknowledgment of BTC's financial potential, the GOP presidential frontrunner did show signs of coming around as early as last month, when he said during a town hall event in South Carolina that the cryptocurrency has "taken a life of its own."
On a more constructive note, he said regulation may be necessary due to the growing acceptance of the digital currency. He did say he can "live with it one way or another," considering the fact that "many people are embracing it."
