“Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam. I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.” — Donald Trump, six years ago

The US president raked in at least $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency and memecoin businesses last year, according to federal financial disclosure documents made public on Tuesday.

Trump is 80, and he has been working for the better part of 60 years. His crypto windfall is certainly far larger than any amount he earned in a single year as a real estate developer, casino impresario and reality TV oddity during that span.

This is America, and it’s fun to see hardworking, talented people get rich. Trump didn’t land his crypto billions because he’s hardworking or talented, though. His payday arrived because he’s president.

And Trump has used his Oval Office perch to help engineer federal support for an industry he once derided as a “scam” before a philosophic conversion that convinced him to set up various crypto ventures just before his 2024 reelection. He has attributed that enlightenment to crypto tutoring provided by his 20-year-old son, Barron. Perhaps. But I suspect that Trump, who can spot a pile of money a mile away, probably understood that the White House might afford him an opportunity to cash in on crypto, an industry that still lacks a widespread and demonstrable corporate or consumer use case.

Reporters also had questions about Trump’s newfound crypto billions and inquired on........

© Bloomberg