Former
President
Donald
Trump
heaped
more
praise
on
the
“very,
very
smart
people”
of
the
crypto
industry
in
an
interview
broadcast
on
Friday,
suggesting
that
the
U.S.
embracing
Bitcoin
(BTC)
could
aid
in
addressing
the
$35
trillion
U.S.
national
debt.
“Who
knows?
Maybe
we’ll
pay
off
our
$35
trillion
dollars,
hand
them
a
little
crypto
check,
right?”
Trump
suggested
to
Fox
Business’
Maria
Bartiromo
in
an
interview.
“We’ll
hand
them
a
little
bitcoin
and
wipe
out
our
$35
trillion.”
Though
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris,
his
presumptive
Democratic
opponent
in
the
presidential
race,
hasn’t
yet
made
any
policy
statements
about
her
own
view
on
cryptocurrency,
one
of
her
campaign
accounts
on
X
–
the
“rapid
response”
campaign
effort
–
seemed
to
slam
Trump’s
view
by
airing
his
comments.
Most
of
Trump’s
remarks
suggested
his
primary
interest
is
in
the
U.S.’s
competitive
position
with
China,
though
he
also
issued
a
dig
at
President
Joe
Biden’s
administration
and
its
crypto
position.
“Biden’s
trying
to
shut
it
down–
Biden
doesn’t
have
the
intellect
to
shut
it
down,”
Trump
said.
“Can
you
imagine
this
guy’s
telling
you
to
shut
something
down
like
that?
He
has
no
idea
what
the
hell
it
is.
But
if
we
don’t
embrace
it,
it’s
going
to
be
embraced
by
other
people.”
So
far,
the
former
president
has
drawn
hefty
support
from
prominent
crypto
advocates.
There
are
signs
that
some
in
the
sector
are
also
considering
support
for
Harris,
though
they’re
eager
to
hear
what
she
thinks.
Below
is
a
transcript
of
Trump’s
answers
to
Bartiromo’s
questions
on
crypto:
Donald
Trump:
“Crypto
is
a
very
interesting
thing.
Very
high-level
in
certain
ways,
intellectually
very
high-level.
But
if
we
don’t
do
it,
China’s
going
to
do
it.
China’s
going
to
do
it
anyway.
But
if
we
don’t
do
it,
China’s
doing
it.
China
is
already
doing
it,
and
if
we
don’t
do
it,
other
countries
are
going
to
do
it.
So
we
might
as
well
be
at
the
forefront.
And
there
are
people
in
crypto
that
are
very,
very
smart
people
who
do
love
our
country,
and
they
think
it’s–
they
think
it’s
good.
Who
knows?
Maybe
we’ll
pay
off
our
$35
trillion
dollars,
hand
them
a
little
crypto
check,
right?
We’ll
hand
them
a
little
bitcoin
and
wipe
out
our
$35
trillion.”
…
“It’s
already
prominent.
It’s
moving
along.
It’s
very
loosely
regulated.
That’s
one
of
the
reasons
it’s
moving
along.
But
it
is
a
different
form
of
a
currency,
and
it’s
going
to
end
up
benefiting
the
country.
But
if
we
shut
it
down
like,
you
know,
Biden’s
trying
to
shut
it
down–
Biden
doesn’t
have
the
intellect
to
shut
it
down.
Can
you
imagine
this
guy’s
telling
you
to
shut
something
down
like
that?
He
has
no
idea
what
the
hell
it
is.
But
if
we
don’t
embrace
it,
it’s
going
to
be
embraced
by
other
people.
You
know,
it’s
a
massive
thing
already.
Did
you
read
where
it’s
bigger
than
any
company
in
the
world
already,
if
you
look
at
the
market.
It’s
bigger
than
many
countries.
It’s
a
very
big
thing.
If
we’re
not
going
to
be
the
leader–
we
have
the
people
that
are
the
leaders.
I
know
some
of
them.
They’re
very
smart.
And
if
we
don’t
embrace
it,
other
countries
are
going
to
embrace
it.
Other
countries
will
anyway,
but
we
can
be
the
leader.
We
might
as
well
be
the
leader.”
