Donald Trump Introduces New Cryptocurrency Project Without Giving Any Details—But Discusses Apparent Assassination Attempt

Trump did not discuss World Liberty Financial in detail or how it works, veering from questions about cryptocurrencies to talk about artificial intelligence or other topics. Instead, he recounted his experience on Sunday, saying that he and a friend were playing golf and “heard gunshots in the air, and I guess it was probably four or five.”

“I would love to sink that last one,” Trump said. He credited the Secret Service for spotting the rifle barrel and starting to fire toward it, as well as law enforcement and a civilian who he said helped track down the suspect.

World Liberty Financial is expected to be a lending and borrowing service used to trade cryptocurrencies, which are digital forms of money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. Exchanges typically charge fees for withdrawing Bitcoin and other currencies.

Other speakers after Trump, including his eldest son, Don Jr., spoke about embracing cryptocurrencies as an alternative to a banking system they accuse of being anti-conservative.

A presidential candidate starts a business while campaigning, experts say can create morality conflict

“The advocacy of cryptocurrency isn’t necessarily the thing that’s worrying; the worrying aspect is doing it while starting to seek to personally benefit from it,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the Washington-based government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, said earlier this month.

During his time in the White House, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies and tweeted in 2019 that “Unregulated crypto assets can facilitate illegal behavior, including drug trafficking and other illegal activity.” However, this election cycle, he has changed his stance and taken a more positive view of cryptocurrencies.

He announced in May that his campaign will begin accepting cryptocurrency donations as part of an effort to build what he calls a “crypto army” heading into Election Day. attended a bitcoin conference in Nashville this year, promising to turn the United States into the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin using the currency the government currently holds.

Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University who has studied cryptocurrencies, said she is skeptical about Trump’s shift in stance on cryptocurrencies.

“I think it’s safe to say that the reversal was partly driven by financial interests,” she said.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts welcomed the change, seeing the launch as a positive sign for investors if Trump wins back the White House.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has yet to release a policy proposal on how digital assets like cryptocurrencies should be regulated.

In an effort to attract crypto investors, a group of Democrats, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, participated in the “Crypto 4 Harris” online event in August.

Neither Harris nor members of her campaign staff attended the event.