Michael Calore: That’s how the crypto people say, good morning.
Lauren Goode: Do you mean the crypto boys?
Michael Calore: The crypto boys?
Lauren Goode: Yes.
Michael Calore: Well, I guess it’s afternoon. How do they say good afternoon, GA? They probably don’t say good afternoon because they’re too busy hustling.
Lauren Goode: They say HODL.
Katie Drummond: Did we start?
Michael Calore: Yes, we did. This is WIRED’s Uncanny Valley, a show about the people, power, and influence of Silicon Valley. Today, we’re talking about Trump’s ventures into cryptocurrency and the web of conflict of interests that those ventures are just one small part of. On April 23rd, Trump announced that he would hold a private dinner with the largest investors in his self-branded cryptocurrency, TrumpCoin. The announcement created a trading frenzy that on paper added hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump’s net worth. The dinner has now been officially set for May 22, and it is raising ethical and constitutional concerns, with many pointing out that the president is effectively selling access to his administration, but that’s just the beginning of how Trump’s ongoing business ventures are pushing the line between money and politics. I’m Michael Calore, director of consumer tech and culture here at WIRED.
Lauren Goode: I’m Lauren Goode. I’m a senior writer at WIRED.
Katie Drummond: And I’m Katie Drummond, WIRED’s global editorial director.
Michael Calore: So before we dive into Trump’s crypto saga, it’s worth pointing out that he wasn’t always the biggest fan of the industry. As early as 2021, he called bitcoin a scam and said that it should be regulated “very, very high.” Not only has Trump changed his views on cryptocurrency, but in January of this year, three days before he was inaugurated for his second term, he launched his own meme coin. This is where the technical terms come into the show, because I just said meme coin. Maybe we should define some of these things like meme coins and cryptocurrency and how it differentiates from bitcoin and stablecoin.
Lauren Goode: Yes, good call. Cryptocurrency, let’s start with cryptocurrency. Basically, it is decentralized, not regulated, digital money.
Michael Calore: OK, I’m bored.
Lauren Goode: No one government controls it, either the governance of it or the market value of it, and I think a lot of people conflate cryptocurrency with bitcoin because bitcoin is the Kleenex of crypto or the Tampax. I want to force all of the crypto boys to compare this in their minds to Tampax. Bitcoin is the name brand everybody thinks of. It was the first established cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s value is determined both by people essentially believing in it and also by the fact that it does have scarcity. No more than 21 million bitcoins can exist, though there are plenty of other crypto coins people can get into.
Katie Drummond: People are going to get so mad at me for saying this, but just listening to you talk about that, I still cannot believe that this even exists. I’m just like, “Uh-huh.”