The ‘new era of national success’ begins with crypto

The “golden age of America,” the “totally new era of national success,” had begun in a big way for President Donald Trump even before he took the oath of office.

On Friday night, Trump launched the $TRUMP cryptocurrency meme coin. By Sunday, his investment had risen to a paper value of $58 billion, which projected him into the ranks of the world’s 25 richest people. On Sunday night, the soon-to-be First Lady announced her own meme coin, $MELANIA, which soared to a book value of over $2 billion by the next day.

With this dramatic increase, cryptocurrencies have risen from about 1 percent to more than 90 percent of the president’s net worth.

With so much merely ceremonial news in the media’s lap, it’s no surprise this astonishing development hasn’t received anything like the attention it deserves, but its significance wasn’t lost at all on the cryptocurrency industry.

Balaji Srinivasan, former chief technology officer at Bitcoin, wrote on X that this dramatic change in Trump’s finances was a precursor to an experience billions of people will soon have, the “overnight relative devaluation of all non-crypto holdings.” He goes on to speculate about a future where Americans will get free crypto by getting on Trump’s email list.

The reaction from others in this growing industry hasn’t been nearly as positive, ranging from “absolutely preposterous” to “a horrible look for the industry.” Remember that these are investors in crypto vehicles, which may be in competition with Trump products, and with the promised land on site, they don’t want to make any waves. Still, crypto paid most of the $250 million raised for Monday’s inauguration, and it now has, as Srinivasan called him, “the first crypto president.”

From Trump’s description of it in his inaugural speech, Americans can also look forward to a dramatic improvement in their economic circumstances, with lower prices for food and gas and their tax dollars replaced by foreign tariffs.

This brings to mind a line from Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State speech last week. Georgia’s economic success is like football, he said. To quote Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, “Humility is only a week away.”

Not only Trump but his most fervent supporters fully expect their circumstances to improve quickly. The simple fact that Trump was elected has led many voters to say their finances have improved, and that kind of loyalty may be enough to weather any unexpected bumps on the short road to the golden age.

Nevertheless, the coach’s advice is worth heeding. It’s hard to remember a time when all the Wall Street talking heads were more in agreement that the economic outlook was bright. That sort of unanimity often appears before a bubble bursts. Many of the bad things that can happen to the economy are things Trump can’t prevent, and he left himself no wiggle room in his speech Monday if the economy sours.

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” is a question that has become a staple of presidential elections since Ronald Reagan used it in 1980. If Trump moves forward with reported plans to replace the federal workforce with political appointees, a future question may be, “How can you tell?” The federal government reports on reams of economic data, and without safeguards, it could be manipulated to make things look better than they really are.

There’s only so much you can do, however, to obscure the realities of being unemployed or unable to afford a tank of gas.

Trump didn’t mention cryptocurrency in his speech Monday, but he’s expected to sign a number of executive orders lifting regulations on the industry and opening new doors for the industry. There are political risks in this, although apparently not $58 billion worth.

“The overnight relative devaluation of all non-crypto holdings” sounds distinctly different on Main Street than it does in Silicon Valley. Already, Elon Musk has predicted unavoidable turmoil in the economy resulting from the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency to slash the federal budget. The prospect of dollars becoming worthless can only add to the economic anxiety over time, and eventually draw much sharper attention to the president’s sudden increase in net worth.

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