Trump says US cryptocurrency startups ‘will live in hell’ if he’s not elected

At an event launching his cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial, former US President Donald Trump said he believes US cryptocurrency developers under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission will “live in hell” if he is not elected to a second term in November.

“If we don’t win the election, those people who were under scrutiny and are now free as birds,” Trump said, “and the people who were unscoped in the cryptocurrency world are going to live in hell — because it’s going to start the day after the election if they win.”

At the inaugural event organized by DecipherIn an interview with Rug Radio, a sister company to Trump’s cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial, Trump discussed what he called the SEC’s “extremely hostile” approach to cryptocurrency regulation under current Chairman Gary Gensler.

The regulator has targeted cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, and sent a legal threat to NFT marketplace OpenSea. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

But there have been surprises in recent months. For example, the prospect of the SEC approving Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) seemed unlikely, despite January’s approval of bitcoin funds. But in May, the agency did a 180-degree turn and gave the green light to Ethereum ETFs, which began trading in July.

At the time, there was speculation that Trump’s public support for cryptocurrencies and promises of more industry-friendly regulation might have convinced the Biden administration to cool down on cryptocurrency enforcement. And Trump himself thinks there’s something to it.

“Honestly, since they heard I was involved, they’ve treated people a lot better,” he said. “Maybe they take it as votes.”

Despite this clear change in tone from the Biden administration, Trump’s Democratic rival in the election, Kamala Harris, has yet to provide any details about her approach to cryptocurrency regulation. However, some industry heavyweights — including billionaire investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban — said her team has reached out to her to learn more.