This evening, at 7:15 PM Central Daylight Time, President Donald Trump tweeted the following (ellipses removed as the tweets were condensed into one continuous quote):
I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity. Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National and International. We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!
Whew.
That’s a lot.
We tend not to get too political here at The Barking Crow (though I did try to vote for Joe Kelly for president in 2018, only to be told we weren’t electing a president that year, which reeks of tyranny), but when Bitcoin is attacked on Twitter by the holder of the highest office in American politics, a red line has been crossed.
Here, point by point, is my rebuttal:
Volatility
Yes, Bitcoin is volatile. If you, the reader, don’t like volatility, I get it, but if you, the president, don’t like volatility, why do you do the things you do?
“Thin Air”
First of all, thank you, thin air is better for the heart than thick air, so this means Bitcoin is very healthy.
Also, for those who don’t know, part of what makes Bitcoin so valuable is that it’s public knowledge exactly how many bitcoins will be in circulation at every moment in both the present and the future. Which stands in contrast to the United States Dollar, of which supply can be increased rapidly at the will of government agencies, and assets like gold, of which supply can increase at any moment thanks to new discoveries and technological advances related to mining.
Bitcoin being used for illegal activity
I don’t know about you guys, but based on my observations, the drug dealers two floors below me take their payments in cash. As did that fraudulent university the current president started in 2005.
Bitcoin vs. USD
I won’t play the “one bitcoin is worth eleven thousand of your precious U.S. dollars” card, which is to say I’ll show it’s in my hand but will say I’m not playing it to make clear I’m not playing it.
What I will say is that in the five minutes immediately following President Trump’s tweet, Bitcoin’s price rose about $100.
In currency, as with democracy, the people decide, until tyrants try to stop them.
This is an important blog