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Trump has announced "five digital assets he expects to include in a new U.S. strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies."

Do you think Trump may have squirreled away millions of these cryptocurrencies?

This makes me think of the classic "pump and dump" financial swindle. In this case it would be the Trump and Dump. I could be wrong, but I would never bet against corruption when Trump is involved.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-names-cryptoc...

We've elected a grifter for POTUS...what do you expect?

He'll put Madoff in the shade.

Do you think Trump may have squirreled away millions of these cryptocurrencies?

You can bet on it. So have the techbros.

I hope he was smart enough to have a stash. I really hope.

Then he needs to sell it in a way where it's not taxed.

And THEN the bailout comes.

I think you people should cut money from Climate Change efforts to pay for said bailout and in face of that, be accused by MAGA for bailing out your Liberal Woke Banker friends and increasing the deficit.


Which part of that appeals to you the most?

from tryingtolearn76.substack.com :

"In essence we are PRINTING USD to buy digital “assets” with it that as of now don’t have any sizable practical
uses.[weatherman: other than criminal enterprise level B2B in steep growth]
This is speculation at its finest and screams loud and clear that our USD is worth little as we will print to buy speculative assets with it, making it a speculative asset of its own. If I am sitting in Beijing and Tokyo right now and have $1T+ in US Treasuries that have just been printed to buy cryptos, what would I be thinking about the value of those USD Treasuries..."

warren and others fleeing to t-bills, beware.

This is speculation at its finest and screams loud and clear that our USD is worth little as we will print to buy speculative assets with it, making it a speculative asset of its own. - weatherman

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However, printing money to give it away for causes that most citizens would not approve of is all goodness, rainbows, and unicorns. Deficit spending of any sort drives inflation and diminishes the value of our currency even if we spend it on good causes.

I am not saying that buying crypto is a good thing in any circumstance. And I am not persuaded that the president is doing so with public money as your mind reading postulates.

I just wish you would be equally upset at wasteful spending of any sort and agree it should be curtailed.

I just wish you would be equally upset at wasteful spending of any sort and agree it should be curtailed.

What wasteful spending? A lot of people like to throw that phrase around, but when asked for specifics, they have none. It's easy to say it exists, but trying to point out examples is a lot harder.

bighairymike: I just wish you would be equally upset at wasteful spending of any sort and agree it should be curtailed.

Agreed. Trump has wasted $10.7 million in taxpayers money golfing during his first month in office. At that burn rate, that's over $125 million a year.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2025/03/trumps-golf-...

BHM: “ I just wish you would be equally upset at wasteful spending of any sort and agree it should be curtailed.”

First, any fair reading of the DOGE operation to date shows that it has very little to do with identifying and eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse” and has much more to do with providing “great TV” by obliterating a few generally unpopular but low-budget programs, such as “foreign aid” (which is rounding error in the federal budget and in fact does many good things) and eradicating any and all oversight of Musk’s government contracts and business operations. That, plus creating a master database with which to harass and intimidate anyone who doesn’t get with the program, including judges, public officials, and the press.

Second, although every business or governmental operation should of course endeavor to spend money efficiently and effectively, by far the biggest problem with the federal budget is not “waste, fraud, and abuse” but rather insufficient revenues with which to fund things that Americans overwhelmingly insist upon. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and paying merely the interest on the ballooning national debt comprise most of the budget. Add in national defense and you’ve spent virtually all of the incoming revenues. We finance everything else the federal government does with the equivalent of cheap payday loans. If the ultra-wealthy 0.1% paid their fair share, we’d all be a lot better off.

That’s the truth. It’s been this way since Reagan, and the debt’s grown more under GOP admins than under Dem ones. I know the federal budget inside and out. I taught university courses on it for 30 years. And I’ve run my household for even longer than that with zero debt. Zero. Because I grew up in deep poverty and I hate debt.

But the facts are inconvenient, so feel free to ignore them if they make your head hurt.

I just wish you would be equally upset at wasteful spending of any sort and agree it should be curtailed.

If you really care about waste, then take a look at Trump/Musk and the corruption inherent in so much that they are doing.

If the ultra-wealthy 0.1% paid their fair share, we’d all be a lot better off. - MF

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Simple excuse to justify any level of deficit spending. No need to address any waste until those 0.1 percenters are brought to heal. One thing about about math is that there will always be top one percenters, so it provides a perpetual excuse for excessive spending.

BHM: “One thing about about math is that there will always be top one percenters, so it provides a perpetual excuse for excessive spending.”

And there will still be a 1% after they pay their fair share. (Also, I said 0.1%, intentionally.) But if you oppose them paying their fair share, then I understand why you support Trump.

I think you meant to reply to BHM. I agree with you that, while there is waste, that is inherent in any large organization. Corruption is the big problem going forward. Not waste.

I just wish you would be equally upset at wasteful spending of any sort and agree it should be curtailed.

Here's one we could agree on:
Donald Trump announced that he wants to create a national crypto reserve...Billions of taxpayer dollars wasted to prop up an actual Ponzi scheme.
The main argument for a Strategic Crapcoin Reserve is that crypto holders who donated millions to Trump worry about an impending shortage of greater fools and need the US government to act as the greatest fool of last resort.

Here's one we could agree on:
Donald Trump announced that he wants to create a national crypto reserve...Billions of taxpayer dollars wasted to prop up an actual Ponzi scheme.
The main argument for a Strategic Crapcoin Reserve is that crypto holders who donated millions to Trump worry about an impending shortage of greater fools and need the US government to act as the greatest fool of last resort.

BHM- Thoughts, please?

Here's one we could agree on:

Donald Trump announced that he wants to create a national crypto reserve...Billions of taxpayer dollars wasted to prop up an actual Ponzi scheme.
The main argument for a Strategic Crapcoin Reserve is that crypto holders who donated millions to Trump worry about an impending shortage of greater fools and need the US government to act as the greatest fool of last resort. - Banksy

BHM - Thoughts, please?

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As a general proposition, I think that anyone investing in crypto is making a huge risky mistake.

As for Bansky's post, if everything he claimed is true then besides being an unwise investment, Trumps gambling with taxpayer dollars to prop up a Ponzi scheme would be a crime. Whether he could be prosecuted gets into the recent controversial SCOTUS ruling regarding official duties vs non official duties. In this scenario, IMHO this criminal act should not be protected.

Some additional info, from Prof. Richardson (quoted):

“In February, the cryptocurrency bitcoin experienced its biggest monthly drop since June 2022, falling by 17.5%. On Sunday, in a post on his social media site, Trump announced that the government will create a strategic stockpile of five cryptocurrencies, spending tax dollars to buy them.

…The first three currencies Trump announced were not well known, and the announcement sent their prices soaring. Hours later, he added the names of the two biggest cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. After the initial surges, by Monday prices for the currencies had fallen roughly back to where they had been before the announcement, making the announcement look like a pump-and-dump scheme. Economist Peter Schiff, a Trump supporter, called for a full congressional investigation….”

As a general proposition, I think that anyone investing in crypto is making a huge risky mistake.

As for Bansky's post, if everything he claimed is true then besides being an unwise investment, Trumps gambling with taxpayer dollars to prop up a Ponzi scheme would be a crime. Whether he could be prosecuted gets into the recent controversial SCOTUS ruling regarding official duties vs non official duties. In this scenario, IMHO this criminal act should not be protected.


We agree.

Now that we’ve established that we have a criminal in the White House willing to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States in order to enrich himself and his cronies/family, what should we do about it?

Whether he could be prosecuted gets into the recent controversial SCOTUS ruling regarding official duties vs non official duties. In this scenario, IMHO this criminal act should not be protected.

Criminal acts fall outside of the scope of official duties. But is it criminal? Can a President declare a reserve, or does that fall to the Federal Reserve Board and/or Congress? What is the crime? What code section applies?

Now that we’ve established that we have a criminal in the White House willing to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States in order to enrich himself and his cronies/family - bill>/I>

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I don't agree with that. "We" have not established anything except that crypto is a poor choice for investment.

Trumps "willingness to destroy" is just more mind reading on your part.

I don't agree with that. "We" have not established anything except that crypto is a poor choice for investment.

I identified crypto as the basis of a potential scam weeks ago, and I know you read it though you were unclear on how the scam worked.

Well, it’s here- or at least Trump is proposing it. At the least, Mike, keep a watch on how it unfolds.

Criminal acts fall outside of the scope of official duties. - Lambo

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I don't recall the SCOTUS ruling quite that way. IIRC, immunity from criminal prosecution extends to official acts and does not extend to unofficial acts. The potential criminality of the act itself is not a factor in deciding immune or not.

Can the Felon actually do this? Congress controls the purse. Of course, they are a bunch of obsequious boot-lickers. But I would think -at the minimum- it could be held up in the Senate by filibuster. And there are a few Reps willing to vote against the Felon (they only have a three seat majority in the House).

And there are a few Reps willing to vote against the Felon (they only have a three seat majority in the House).

Are there? Not sure.

Are there? Not sure.

I thought I read that there was a vote recently, and the Reps cleared it by one vote?? Or maybe that was the Senate. Which implies he lost one or two.

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