As part of a campaign event, Trump pays restaurant bill with Bitcoin
4 min readRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump used Bitcoin (BTC) to pay his bill at a New York City bar and restaurant known for accepting the cryptocurrency. Trump reportedly bought burgers using BTC at Pubkey on Wednesday (18) as part of a campaign event, according to a post from the establishment on X.
In addition to Trump, other notable figures including BTC advocate and CEO of Professional Capital Management Anthony Pompliano also attended the event.
Trump buys burgers with Bitcoin for attendees
Videos on X show Trump buying at least a dozen burgers. He then gave them to people in attendance, calling them “crypto burgers.”
Former President Donald Trump uses Bitcoin to buy burgers at @PUBKEY_NYC.pic.twitter.com/1Nw9rwRWJX
— THE COIN (@thecoinlive) September 18, 2024
This event comes shortly after Trump announced the launch of a token through the cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial. Incidentally, this is a project of his family.
World Liberty Financial will be an ecosystem where users can borrow, lend and invest in cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, the project will feature a non-transferable governance token called WLFI, participation in which is expected to be limited to accredited investors.
The project structure foresees 20% of the tokens reserved for the founding team, 17% for user rewards and the remaining 63% available to the public.
Previously, the former president labeled Bitcoin a “fraud,” describing cryptocurrencies as something “based on nothing.” However, the former president has since changed his tune.
After all, Trump has been showing support for Bitcoin miners throughout his campaign this year. He also made an appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
Trump’s involvement with Bitcoin is notable for other factors as well. For example, he reportedly holds at least $1 million in crypto assets.
Using Bitcoin to pay your Pubkey bill carries important symbolism. Another former president, Democrat Bill Clinton, has also held Bitcoin since receiving the currency at an event in 2016. However, he has never made such overt nods to the crypto community.
Kamala avoids cryptocurrencies
Unlike Trump, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has not made cryptocurrencies a focal point of her campaign.
However, Future Forward, a political action committee that supports Kamala, accepts donations in cryptocurrency, so there is already a distinct approach to digital assets within the party.
Geoff Kendrick, an analyst at investment bank Standard Chartered, said Bitcoin is set to end the year at new all-time highs regardless of who wins the US election.
Kendrick suggests that Bitcoin could reach new highs by the end of 2024 due to “positive factors dominating regardless of the election outcome.”
“I think Bitcoin ends the year on a high, at new all-time highs, no matter who wins the US election. A Trump victory could take it to $125,000, and $75,000 if it’s Harris.”
Importantly, Kamala’s chances of winning the upcoming US presidential election have increased on Polymarket following her debate with Trump last week.
Harris’s chances of winning the next election currently stand at 52%, ahead of Trump’s at 46%.
This increase came after the recent debate, which addressed important national issues such as the war in Gaza and abortion rights.
After the event, 94% of bettors on Polymarket believed Kamala won the debate.
Furthermore, the most recent polls have shown the Democratic candidate has an advantage over Trump in both the popular vote and in the main swing states. Therefore, she remains a slight favorite to overcome the former president in the November elections.
Trump’s promises were also well received
It’s not just Trump’s actions that have made him the crypto community’s favorite candidate. His many promises to voters also weigh in his favor , even when they seem difficult to fulfill.
The speech that had the most impact was his desire to make the US the “world capital of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin”. The speech was given on September 5th, at the Economic Club of New York.
In addition, Trump said he would fire the current chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, “on day one” of a possible second term. He also said he would create a “presidential council on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.”
Gensler is frequently criticized by the cryptocurrency community due to the various actions that the SEC takes against companies and entrepreneurs in the sector. Therefore, labeling him as a villain ends up being a way to gain empathy from investors and industry leaders.
Trump also promised voters to follow a suggestion from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X, by conducting an audit of government bureaucracy.
“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a full financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. We need to do this, we can’t continue as we are now.”
The goal would be to develop an action plan to eliminate possible irregularities and save “hundreds of billions,” in Trump’s words. For the project to get off the ground, Musk himself would be in charge of running the commission.
Although not directly related to the crypto market, this promise reinforces Trump’s bond with Musk, a strong enthusiast of the sector. It also indicates his desire to carry out a more disruptive mandate than the first, which would be a good sign for the industry.
