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"Reversing the Trend" dives into the crypto industry’s most overlooked truths and flips conventional wisdom on its head. Each episode serves up unfiltered, contrarian perspectives that cut through the noise, exploring what's wrong with mainstream crypto narratives and where they miss the mark. Hosted by a seasoned insider who critiques the industry with equal parts love and skepticism, this podcast isn’t here to follow trends – it’s here to challenge them. Tune in for raw insights, bold opinions, and a no-nonsense breakdown of what’s really happening in the world of crypto.
Sam Real: Welcome to Reversing the Trend.
This is a podcast where I
talk about the things I find
interesting in the crypto space.
Today, we're tackling something
that's confused me for a while now.
Crypto's weird obsession
with Donald Trump.
The guy who once called Bitcoin a
scam is now somehow the darling of
certain parts of the crypto community.
How?
Why?
We're going to break it all down today.
Alright, first off, let's
rewind back to 2019.
Remember that Trump was
definitely not a fan of crypto.
He said Bitcoin wasn't money, that it
was supposed to be based on thin air.
I mean, he wasn't just indifferent.
He actively hated it.
So how did we go from that to him
dropping NFTs in 2022 to now, whatever
this world liberty financial thing is.
And what's even more baffling is
how crypto Twitter has just gone
full on pro Trump all of a sudden.
They're out here acting like Trump
is some sort of crypto saviour.
Just type his name along with crypto
into Twitter and you'll see folks
gleefully mentioning that he's leading
the polls by nearly 30 percent and
that is supposedly bullish for crypto.
Come on, make it make sense.
And honestly, Polymarket isn't
exactly a reliable indicator
of who will win the election.
It's a prediction market driven
by bets of individual users, and
those users can be swayed by biases.
So it's not exactly a scientific poll,
and it's definitely not something that
should be taken as the gospel truth.
But the point is, Trump
really isn't pro crypto.
He's just pro whatever will
bring him a quick buck.
And speaking of the numbers, get this,
a recent poll showed that Trump had
a 12 percent lead over Kamala Harris
among holders of digital assets.
That's a pretty significant lead.
Do you know how massive
12 percent really is?
It's the same lead that
Trump has in Texas.
Yeah, Texas.
The state that hasn't voted
for a Democrat since 1976.
But it makes me wonder why?
What do people in the crypto space
see in Trump that makes them overlook
everything he's said and done?
Is it just because they think he'll pump
their bags or is there something else?
So let's talk about Trump's journey
from being anti crypto to suddenly being
pro NFT or at least pretending to be.
Back in 2019, he made that infamous
tweet about Bitcoin, saying it's
highly volatile and based on thin air.
He was pretty clear, he
didn't like crypto at all.
Then fast forward to 2021 and during
an interview with Fox Business, he
straight up called Bitcoin a scam.
He didn't like it because it
was a threat to the US dollar.
And I kind of get it.
If you're Trump with a lot of
investments tied up in traditional
finance, Bitcoin isn't just a currency.
It's a challenge to your
entire financial worldview.
And for a while, that
seemed to be his stance.
Bitcoin is bad.
It competes with the dollar.
End of story.
But then out of nowhere came
2022 and boom, Trump's got NFTs.
And these weren't just any NFTs either.
The NFTs were of Trump in all kinds of
wild scenarios, superhero, cowboy, even
an astronaut, it's honestly laughable.
The artwork was just as
ridiculous as you'd expect.
I mean, nothing says ambitious like
Trump in a superhero cape, right?
And here's the kicker.
He made over 4 million from that NFT drop.
It was wild.
It's a kind of pivot that only makes
sense if you understand that for
Trump, it's all about the money.
If it makes money, he's in.
So I guess we shouldn't be surprised.
And now, right in the middle of a
presidential election, he's launched
this so called crypto project
called World Liberty Financial.
Their supposed mission Well, according
to their gold paper, yeah, not a
white paper, a gold paper, because
it's not for you brokies, is to bring
financial freedom to everyone, no
matter their background or bank balance.
I can't even say that
with a straight face.
But let's be honest, it doesn't
operate like a real crypto project.
First off, 75 percent of the revenue
goes directly to Trump and his people.
Like, what kind of
decentralized project does that?
And then there's the fact that the
tokens are only available to accredited
investors earning over $200, 000 annually.
How does that jive with the idea
of financial freedom for everyone?
This isn't about helping
underserved communities.
It's about helping wealthy
folks get even wealthier.
And of course, the tokens
are non transferable.
Which means if you decide you want
out, well too bad, you're stuck.
Trump's happy to take your
money, but getting it back,
yeah, it's not going to happen.
Speaking of taking money, Trump's campaign
has recently started accepting crypto
donations, which is kind of ironic.
Given his previous stance on Bitcoin.
He's managed to pull in millions in
crypto from pretty big names in the space.
The Winklevoss twins, for example,
donated $2 million in Bitcoin
to his reelection campaign.
Kraken's Jesse Powell chipped
in $1 million in Ether.
Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart
Alderoy, threw in $300,000 in XRP,
likely because of his ongoing feud
with the SEC and Gary Gensler.
And then there's Charles Hoskinson,
the founder of Cardano, who donated
$250,000 in ADA, citing that the
regulatory uncertainty under the
current administration had pushed
him to support Trump's campaign.
It's clear that some big players are
betting on Trump, maybe hoping he'll
go easy on them if he's back in office.
It's a strange mix of
motives and interests.
On the one hand, Trump's
happy to rake in their money.
On the other hand, his actions
have been anything but consistent.
And let's be real for a second.
These so called leaders of the crypto
space all claim to be about financial
freedom and decentralized finance.
They talk a big game about breaking the
chains of traditional financial systems,
yet here they are, backing someone
who doesn't care about any of that.
They're not here to stand by
the principles that supposedly
make crypto revolutionary.
They're here because they think Trump will
let them make more money, let them avoid
regulation, and keep their bags pumping.
It's not about empowering people
or serving underserved communities,
it's about their wallets.
Just like any other millionaire,
they're putting profits over principles,
hoping that backing Trump will
work out in their favor if he wins.
Honestly, it's disappointing to see these
big names in the space fall for this.
If the crypto industry wants to be taken
seriously, it needs to stop falling for
whatever grifter promises an easy way
out, and actually uphold the values it
claims to represent decentralization,
transparency, and financial freedom,
not just for the wealthy elite.
We've seen this before
in the crypto space.
Big promises, flashy headlines,
but ultimately, it's the
same old self serving crap.
These so called leaders of the
industry are backing Trump because
they think it would benefit their
bottom line, not because they genuinely
believe in what crypto stands for.
And how about this one?
An orange man walks into a crypto bar.
Not really.
Trump really did this.
He made headlines when he used
Bitcoin to make a payment at a
bar in New York, becoming the
first former president to do so.
It's just another part of the show.
Look at me.
I'm down with Bitcoin now.
But let's not forget, this is
the same guy who dismissed it as
worthless and a con a few years back.
Whether it's just for the headlines
or he's genuinely trying to win over
the crypto crowd, it's hard to say.
But I think we know
which one is more likely.
Let's take a moment to
put this in context.
In crypto, we've seen scams
and cash grabs before.
But this one really takes the cake.
And it's really frustrating.
Every time something like this
happens, it hurts the whole space.
The critics love this.
They love to point to stuff like this
and say, see, crypto is just a scam.
It's just a place for
con artists and grifters.
And can you blame them?
When you have a former president,
the grifter in chief jumping into the
crypto world just to pull something
like this is not exactly a great look.
And I really don't get how this is a guy
the industry overwhelmingly supports,
just because he says he's pro crypto.
I hate to break it to y'all,
but crypto is not going to be a
deciding factor in this election.
Most people care about things like the
economy, abortion rights, healthcare,
immigration, not just crypto.
And frankly, it's just kind of weird that
some people in the space are making crypto
the single issue that they care about.
Not just weird, but
selfish and short sighted.
We can't think about our
own financial gain here.
There are bigger issues at play.
Let's talk about libertarian
values for a minute.
Crypto is supposed to
be about freedom, right?
About breaking free from the
centralized power and giving
individuals control over their finances.
Libertarianism is about minimizing
government interference, maximizing
personal freedom, and building
a decentralized way of living.
But Trump, Mr.
Dictator on day one, doesn't
fit into that picture.
He's not about decentralization,
he's about consolidating
power, usually around himself.
Remember when he talked about
wanting more government control
over social media platforms?
Or when he suggested using executive
powers to shut down parts of the internet.
Yeah, that's not the kind of freedom most
of us in the crypto space are looking for.
And I get it.
The crypto world is mostly guys under 40.
And Trump knows how to
talk to that machismo.
He knows how to tap into that
so called real man mentality.
The kind that's all about rejecting
anything that's seen as woke, doubling
down on the tough guy act, and pushing
anti establishment, anti progressive vibe.
You know, the idiots in the
timeline telling you that real
men don't drink soy latte.
But isn't it time we look past
the tough guy talk and see
what's actually being offered.
Because if we're just falling for whoever
promises to pump our bags, then we're no
better than the scammers who have been
taking advantage of this space for years.
And let's touch on Gary
Gensler for a second.
Gensler has been a real pain in
the you know what for the industry.
His enforcement actions against big
players like Binance and Coinbase
have been all over the place.
And frankly, it feels like he's
just trying to regulate crypto
without fully understanding it.
There's no clear framework.
Just a lot of random crackdowns that
seem to be more about making headlines
than establishing real guidelines.
No wonder Trump went to the
Bitcoin conference promising
to fire Gensler on day one.
It's a great soundbite.
It gets the people going, but it
goes to show that Trump doesn't
care about crypto regulation.
He cares about whatever makes
him look good in the moment.
So let's zoom up for a moment
and consider the bigger picture.
What does it say about the
crypto community when it rallies
behind a figure like Trump?
We're supposed to be the vanguards
of a new financial future.
But are we really living up to the idea?
If we back someone who clearly doesn't
believe in the core principles of
decentralization and empowerment.
Instead of aligning with figures who
promise short term gains or regulatory
loopholes, shouldn't we be thinking long
term about what's best for the future of
blockchain and digital assets as a whole?
It's easy to get caught up in the
hype, but we need to remember why
crypto exists in the first place.
To disrupt all systems of power and
create something truly transformative
And then there's the
question of integrity.
How many times has crypto been burned by
flashy promises and opportunistic players
who claim they're here for the revolution,
but are really just in it for themselves.
Trump isn't an anomaly in that regard.
He's just another name on a long list
of figures who saw an opportunity to
cash in on a new technology without truly
understanding or caring about its impact.
If we're serious about making crypto more
than just a speculative playground for the
wealthy we need to hold our leaders and
influencers to a higher standard Crypto's
potential is too important to waste on
opportunists who only see dollar signs.
So yeah, that's where we're at.
Crypto's strange obsession with Trump.
It's confusing, it's messy, and
really it's kind of disappointing.
We're supposed to be about freedom,
innovation, and decentralization,
not falling for whatever crypto
promises us a quick gain.
We need to be smarter
about who we support.
Are we really going to throw all
our weight behind someone just
because they promise a pump?
Or do we want real, lasting
change in the space?
So that's my take.
It's not just about Trump.
It's about what he represents,
and the values we are willing to
compromise for the sake of a quick win.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
Do you agree or disagree
with what I've just said?
Why has Trump become so popular in
certain parts of the crypto community?
Is Trump really a good thing for crypto?
Or are we getting distracted by the hype?
Share this podcast, and let's
keep the conversation going.
The future of crypto is in our hands.
And it's up to us to shape it.
Let's make sure we do it right.
Peace.