US President Donald Trump described cryptocurrency as a strategic industry that the United States must dominate, arguing that failure to embrace digital assets would allow China to seize the lead in one of the world's fastest-growing financial sectors.
Speaking at the White House during an event marking the launch of the Trump Accounts programme, Trump devoted an extended portion of his remarks to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, presenting both as critical to America's economic and technological future.
"I'm a big crypto guy only for one reason: if we don't have it, China's going to have it and they would like to have it. But now they're not even trying that hard because we've taken over crypto," Trump said. The President said his views on digital assets had evolved over time.
"I'm a fan; I wasn't initially, I didn't know much about it. But for some of my first term, I wasn't really -- I wasn't much involved, but I'd watch and I watched it grow. It's a huge industry," he said. Trump argued that geopolitical competition had reinforced his support for the sector.
"If we didn't do it, China would do it in a minute. It's a massive industry," he said, adding that Beijing had sought to gain an advantage in emerging technologies. He also criticised the previous administration's approach to digital assets. "Biden was totally against it but he has no idea what crypto is.
He had no idea. They were very violently against it. They were putting people in jail. What they were doing to the crypto was horrible," Trump said. According to Trump, support for cryptocurrency has become politically and economically significant because of the industry's rapid expansion.
"Crypto's the same thing -- if we didn't do it, China would do it. It's a massive industry," he said. Trump linked cryptocurrency to the administration's broader strategy on artificial intelligence, arguing that maintaining US leadership would require a dramatic expansion of electricity generation and computing infrastructure.
"We're leading China substantially in AI, by substantial," he said. The President said his administration had accelerated approvals for companies to build dedicated power plants alongside AI facilities, describing electricity as essential for the industry's growth.
"You need to more than double it to power that industry," he said of America's electricity requirements for artificial intelligence. Trump also promoted nuclear energy as a reliable source of power for AI development, saying advances in reactor technology had made it increasingly attractive.
"Nuclear is now really hot and safe," he said, while recalling conversations with his uncle, whom he described as a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.