Former U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to “never allow” the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) if reelected.
During a campaign speech in New Hampshire, Trump called CBDCs a “dangerous threat to freedom.”
In a “promise to protect Americans from government tyranny,” Trump said that, “as your President, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency.”
“Such a currency would give our federal government the absolute control over your money,” he said. “They could take your money, you wouldn’t even know it was gone,” he added, vowing to “stop it from coming to America.”
The former President’s stand against CBDCs forms part of a shift away from crypto skepticism as he attempts to woo the pro-crypto constituency. He was joined on stage by the crypto-friendly former Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced that he was dropping out of the race to back Trump following the Iowa caucuses on Monday.
Trump has released multiple NFT collections, cashing out millions of dollars worth of Ethereum from their sales.
Crypto and the prospect of a U.S. CBDC has become a hot-button issue on the campaign trail. Ron DeSantis, Govenor of Florida and Trump’s rival for the Republican nomination, has pledged to “end Biden’s war on Bitcoin,” and banned CBDCs in the state. DeSantis has also announced that Florida would accept Bitcoin as payment for state taxes from businesses.
