Former US leader and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump has backed Israel's war in Gaza
Donald Trump used to be very doubtful of Bitcoin's potential, but has since been coming around in recent months. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Trump said last week that he sometimes has "fun with" Bitcoin – a stark difference from when he called the crypto a potential "scam"
  • Pierce noted that the GOP presidential frontrunner now sees the uptrend in digital asset adoption among the American masses
  • Trump's more positive comments about Bitcoin may in his 2024 campaign and even on election day, Pierce said

Former President Donald Trump recently signaled a notable change in the way he views Bitcoin, the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency. For Brock Pierce, chairman of BTC advocacy organization Bitcoin Foundation, this only means the Republican presidential frontrunner has finally started acknowledging the growing adoption of digital assets among Americans.

Last week, Trump said Bitcoin is "an additional form of currency," signaling a shift from his bearish remarks about the cryptocurrency back in 2021. "Bitcoin just seems like a scam," he said at the time.

However, the business magnate has apparently changed course, saying his enterprise sometimes allows buyers to pay using Bitcoin, adding that he sometimes has "fun with" the cryptocurrency.

Pierce, a blockchain pioneer who is mostly known for his work in the crypto community and at the Bitcoin Foundation, welcomed the ex-president's turnaround. "Donald Trump's statement is clear. He recognizes the importance of the U.S. dollar and its world reserve status, but he's also seen that over 52 million Americans now hold digital assets. They're single-issue voters," he told International Business Times exclusively.

He went on to note that the January approval of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have also influenced Trump's change of heart, considering how the historic move only underlined how Bitcoin is "not going away."

"Trump recognizes that there's a place for Bitcoin and digital assets in our future and he's made it clear that he is not going to oppose them," Pierce said. He noted that such a positive signal toward cryptocurrency acceptance "may help him in the polls and on election day."

The GOP presidential candidate's latest remarks about Bitcoin comes ahead of the cryptocurrency's halving event, wherein rewards for BTC mining transactions are cut in half to reduce the rate at which new Bitcoins are circulated.

As early as last year, there have been projections of how Bitcoin prices will move before the April halving event. Last week, Adam Back, CEO of blockchain technology company Blockstream, said Bitcoin was "just tick tock" to the $100,000-mark. He said the "muted" reaction to BTC's milestone of setting an all-time high at $73,000 may be because "$100k seems way overdue."

Pierce is cautiously optimistic about Bitcoin hitting $100,000 before the halving event despite some BTC bulls expecting such a milestone. "It's very possible but I think that people buy on the hype and sell on the news. We'll see an all-time high prior to the halving followed by a quick market dip and then a summer run. It's certainly possible we could break $100k before that halving. It just takes one good run of momentum, though I think it will fall prior to the halving at whatever high it reaches," he told IBT.

As of Sunday, Bitcoin has been moving between $67,000 and $68,000, highlighting the inherent unpredictability of the crypto market.

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