the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 17, 2025
In early March, Donald Trump signed an executive order creating what he calls a national stockpile of bitcoin and other digital currencies—a big step in what Trump claims will make the U.S. “the world capital” of cryptocurrencies and make Trump the official crypto president.
In fact, cryptocurrencies are little more than another get-rich-quick scheme that is often found advertised on late night television.
The first crypto currency, bitcoin, was invented just over 15 years ago by computer scientists who wanted to use the internet to set up reliable, anonymous currency transactions and payments, outside of both the banking system and government controls. But it soon became apparent that the only practical use of bitcoin and other crypto currencies was to launder dirty money or evade taxes, making it a favorite tool of gangsters, drug traffickers and mafias around the world.
But as more and more swindlers and gangsters relied on bitcoin to make their payments and move money around, they drove up demand, resulting in increased prices. These price increases attracted financial speculators, who saw bitcoin as a source of significant and fast profits—pushing up the prices even further.
Bitcoin had hit the big time.
But the price of bitcoin was based solely on the confidence of millions of speculators, big and small, who bought it in the hopes of making a killing. Once this confidence evaporated—as it did during the financial panic of 2020—the price of bitcoin collapsed and it became a national joke.
But bitcoin did not go away. Over the last several years, the price of bitcoin once again took off. This was soon fed by major Wall Street financial companies that began offering bitcoin and other cryptocurrency type of investments to their customers, even roping in retiree pension fund money. By the end of 2024, cryptocurrencies ballooned to a combined value of 4 trillion dollars, producing bitcoin billionaires, who in turn spent heavily in election campaigns in order to literally buy their favorite politicians.
None of this was lost on Donald Trump. As late as 2019, Donald Trump had opposed bitcoin, calling it a scam. But over the last couple of years, Trump completely reversed himself. He created his own crypto currency and platform, not to speak of crypto watches and sneakers, as did his wife and several other family members. Several crypto fraudsters under investigation and prosecution bought tens and hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Trump’s crypto instruments in order to buy influence in the Trump administration. The rest of Trump’s administration is also up to their necks in bitcoin and crypto. Secretary of Commerce, Harold Lutnick, a major Wall Street player, is a big investor and booster of crypto.
What better way to increase their fortunes than to get the official support of crypto by the U.S. government!
The irresistible rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is certainly a sign of the times. For rather than use the wealth created by the working class in productive investment, various capitalists squander it in speculation, gambling and swindling.