Trump reveals crypto shift was driven by politics and profit potential

President Donald Trump says he entered the crypto space, in part, for political reasons and after noticing the industry’s massive profits. While announcing a new minor savings vehicle called “Trump Accounts” from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump was pressed on whether the program would accommodate Bitcoin.

He responded with, “I’ve become a big crypto guy only for one reason: If we don’t have it, China’s going to have it. But now they’re not even trying that hard, because we’ve taken over.”

He also acknowledged that at first he was not into crypto and knew very little about it, but he changed his mind after witnessing it mature from a niche market into a financial powerhouse. He further admitted that he dipped his toe in the industry a little for political reasons, once he realized there was a huge fanbase for the market.

Ideally, his pro-crypto pivot drew strong backing from the crypto lobby, which poured roughly $170 million into the 2024 election and is set to ramp up funding for pro-crypto candidates this November. 

As earlier reported by Cryptopolitan, the president’s remarks come as his family’s crypto ventures continue to generate enormous financial returns.

According to his latest financial disclosure, Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from cryptocurrency-related businesses during 2025, with the bulk of the earnings coming from World Liberty Financial and the sale of his $TRUMP meme coin.

Bitcoin rose after Trump’s Oval Office remarks

After Trump’s remarks, cryptocurrency markets reacted positively on Monday. Bitcoin, especially, rebounded after the president embraced the “big crypto guy” label and left the door open for digital assets in his minor investment program. Though he did not make a definitive promise to include the assets.

Bitcoin edged up 0.4% to $63,822, though it remains well below its historic peak of over $126,000 last year. Before those comments, Bitcoin had slipped as much as 2% toward $60,000 following Strategy’s regulatory disclosures.

Cryptopolitan reported that the firm liquidated $216 million of its stash, walking back Michael Saylor’s famous “never sell” mantra, throwing off a number of Bitcoin investors.

Trump’s new 503A investment plans, “Trump Accounts,” for kids officially opened over the holiday weekend, handing out $1,000 starter investments to any U.S. child born between January 1, 2025, and the end of 2028. The goal is to get kids building wealth early through diversified exchange-traded funds. 

Trump and his family have earned more than $1 billion from crypto ventures

U.S president’s remarks clearly explain his change of heart, a total 180 from his first term, when he famously trashed Bitcoin as a scam. In the years since, the Trump family has established significant commercial ties to the cryptocurrency sector, drawing intense scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest regarding his pro-crypto policies. 

Critics wasted no time slamming Trump after June 30 disclosures showed his family earned over $1.4 billion last year from crypto ventures. Data published by The New York Times on Sunday indicated that while nearly one million $TRUMP meme coin investors lost a staggering $3.81 billion, Trump personally captured upwards of $600 million from the market. Additionally, he earned $800 million in 2025 from World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform he co-founded with his family. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren has called him out for “brazen crypto corruption.” Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, who is running for the Senate, also posted more recently that the president’s “infinite greed is disgusting.” 

The president, however, has said his interest in crypto is “not a question of a personal thing.” He even said he doesn’t talk to his family about their involvement in crypto. Speaking about his children, he said, “I don’t talk to them, ever, talk to them about it.”

President Trump praises his administration for dropping probes into crypto companies

Meanwhile, in the same Oval Office briefing, the president openly boasted about his administration shutting down federal enforcement actions targeting corruption within the crypto market.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has halted several inquiries and either dropped or settled active enforcement actions against digital asset firms, including some that had financially backed Trump. 

“Every time I see a crypto guy where they dropped an investigation, I said: ‘You’re lucky I’m president,” Trump asserted.

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