Bitcoin and gold skyrocket after Trump victory — financial expert explains why



After former President Donald Trump declared victory last week, the value of Bitcoin, gold, and various stocks skyrocketed. Financial expert and author of “MoneyGPT” James Rickards knows why.

“The immediate reaction to the Trump election was stocks took off, and with good reason. His economic policies, less regulation, drill baby drill, basically getting rid of wasteful investment in what I call the ‘Green New Scam,’” Rickards tells Jill Savage and Stu Burguiere on “Blaze News Tonight.”

“So he has a lot of things that are going to be very good for stocks. However, there’s something bigger than Trump. There’s something bigger than the electoral process, which is the economy itself,” he continues, noting that in the next six to nine months, we may be going through a recession.


“There are a lot of signs of recession out there, so we may get off to a rough start, but the same thing happened to Ronald Reagan in 1982. He had one of the worst recessions in U.S. history but finished with very strong growth toward the end of his first term and into a second term,” he explains.

While Rickards believes that Trump’s presidency will overall be a good thing for the economy, he isn’t so sure about Bitcoin as a form of currency in general.

“I’ve studied Bitcoin for a long time,” Rickards says. “If you want to buy Bitcoin, knock yourself out. But I don’t really think of it as a form of money.”

“It’s really just a form of gambling. I don’t really think of it as an investment. There’s no use case for Bitcoin. Now, can you make money? Absolutely, a lot of people have. So my attitude is I’m not a Bitcoin-basher,” he adds.

As for gold, Rickards explains that the value of it isn’t actually getting higher.

“It’s not that gold’s getting higher, it’s that the dollar is collapsing in front of your eyes,” Rickards says. “What’s really happening is you’re watching your dollar evaporate. You’re watching the dollar crash.”

“The main reason is people are looking for alternatives to the dollar. I’m not saying the dollar is going away. You can’t totally get out of the dollar. It’s too big for that,” he adds.

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FACT CHECK: No, Trump Is Not Winning By 15% In The Polls

A post shared on X claims that former President Donald Trump is winning the polls by 15% against Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump is now leading Harris with 15% in the polls! If he wins, the biggest #Bitcoin bull market ever starts. pic.twitter.com/dmyRuWr0Ew — Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) November 4, 2024 Verdict: False Polymarket is not a polling […]

Crypto clash in Idaho: Can Bitcoin mining find a home in the Gem State?



It’s hard to say Idaho legislators are anti-technology, seeing as they recently made an elaborate deal with Meta to set up data centers in Kuna. Yet, two recent cryptocurrency bills and hopes for deeper relationships with Bitcoin mining companies were, for the time being, set back in the Gem State when government, private entities, and out-of-state players failed to negotiate mutually beneficial solutions to questions of energy prices.

Some have wondered in the fallout if it’s not technology but Bitcoin that is the problem for politicians because the state has indeed made other deals with Big Tech work.

Bills 1295 and 585, respectively, sought to expand certain rights related to distributed ledger technology and exempt crypto miners from “discriminatory” local ordinances that also do not apply to data centers.

Are free-market advocates seeking to restrict private electric companies' abilities from charging crypto miners what they want? Utilities are concerned about investing in the infrastructure necessary to accommodate mining operations because of the speculative nature of the product.

Meta’s deal with the state included $70 million for new water and sewage systems in the city of Kuna, where the proposed operation was established. Additional concessions/promises to the state included various “renewable energy” and jobs commitments.

The existing protocols in Idaho grant sales-tax exemption to data centers if they invest $250 million or more and create at least 30 local jobs. The Meta data center in Kuna invested $800 million and foresees adding 100 new jobs.

For the moment, Idaho, in conjunction with its Public Utilities Commission, has concluded that cryptocurrency mining operations are subject to price instability and do not warrant the same cooperation or exemption from Idaho regulators.

Public Utilities Commission and Idaho Power likely will not strike some deal without third-party intervention. Maybe the push here in Idaho to crack wide the crypto game is just too ambitious now.

At the time of this writing, it’s apparent at almost every political and economic level that the game is on pause. We need to see the results of the presidential election, of course, but then we need to see what promises do and do not manifest. The Trump train has of late signaled strong support for Bitcoin and related technologies, but which firms and personalities are tasked with implementation and how the fiat-regime summons out of the dark as countermeasures are legitimate questions.

A decentralized movement still needs to operate somewhere along the line in the real world. Electricity for crypto mining must be generated, harnessed, and applied to computational work, but unless there is an entirely autonomous infrastructure, Bitcoin miners, monks, and assorted adherents will persist in their dependence upon the tenuous (and collapsing) webs of finance (read: extant power structure).

Some other questions that the Idaho crypto mining legislative situation brings to the fore: Are Bitcoin miners eventually going to acquire land, infrastructure, and expertise enough to generate and distribute their own electricity? Will they be able to defend such efforts by lawfare, one presumes?

If not, we know what’s in store from a globalist point of view vis-a-vis crypto. It’s CBDC but centrally controlled and tied into absolutely every possible conceivable monetary leverage point. In this scenario where technology just fails to wriggle out of classic power dynamics, you will live to see Lovecraftian tax and fee horrors heretofore deemed impossible.

A visionary, just (state, local, or national) government could balance the public-private equation with some sort of citizen dividend scheme. A price structure scheme for crypto mining in Idaho eschewing typical Randian hyper-libertarian models in favor of public works and local, immediate reinvestments would go a great distance toward effecting the sort of high-minded ideals purported by crypto devotees while also securing again so much of the social capital already squandered in the past century.

Is this about establishing a tax on digital property? Section 63-602L seems to imply that Idaho should now commit to not taxing such property. Why stuff that into a bill ostensibly about barring private utility companies from creating and enforcing rate castes for different types of clients?

On the other hand, if we’re being realistic — if we do not embrace some sort of Randian path into the future of technology where some bold “founder” type is going to purchase his or her legal solution effectively — is Christianity a viable overlay by which a legislature could see to properly implement or manage such newfangled considerations as a digital, quasi-centralized currency (or is it a store of wealth or neither)?

In this case, are free-market advocates seeking to restrict private electric companies' abilities from charging crypto miners what they want? Utilities are concerned about investing in the infrastructure necessary to accommodate mining operations because of the speculative nature of the product. Isn’t that a legitimate concern when we see the stalling, the backroom dealing, and the depth of ignorance with respect to all things crypto from the highest levels?

It seems almost that the current tangle of public-private machinations we’ve experimented with may simply be outdated. Idaho is paused on the issue for the moment.

Did this criminal mastermind create Bitcoin?



Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious mastermind behind Bitcoin? According to a new HBO documentary, the answer is Peter Todd.

"Who?" I hear readers asking.

Todd is unknown outside the crypto world. However, he is renowned within it.

A Bitcoin core developer who has played a major role in improving the cryptocurrency’s security and scalability, Todd is a legitimate expert in cryptography and decentralized systems. The Canadian has been a vocal figure in privacy, security, and blockchain governance debates.

However, I argue HBO misses the mark — and badly at that.

Todd himself denies the claim, and his denials make sense when you look at other candidates. Well, one in particular.

This leads us to Paul Le Roux, a South African-born criminal mastermind whose technical genius made him virtually undetectable — until his empire grew too vast to ignore. Le Roux operated in the shadows for years, evading authorities while building a vast transnational crime syndicate. But like all empires built on secrecy and greed, it eventually attracted the wrong kind of attention — for LeRoux, anyway.

To be clear, the grizzled geek isn’t your typical criminal; he’s one with a deep understanding of encryption, one of the foundational elements of Bitcoin. He created E4M, an open-source disk encryption software, which later inspired TrueCrypt — one of the most advanced encryption tools. This background in cryptography aligns perfectly with the skills needed to develop a secure, decentralized currency like Bitcoin. Le Roux’s work in encryption wasn’t just theoretical; he was actively applying this knowledge, which is exactly what someone like Satoshi Nakamoto would need to create a technology like Bitcoin.

The mind and the motivation

The timing of Le Roux’s disappearance from public view is another piece of the puzzle. Satoshi Nakamoto stopped communicating with the Bitcoin community in December 2010. Le Roux, having run a global criminal empire involved in everything from drug trafficking to arms smuggling, was arrested not long after. The fact that Satoshi went silent just as the walls closed on Le Roux appears to be more than a coincidence.

Furthermore, Bitcoin itself, as a concept, fits perfectly into Le Roux’s world. His criminal empire required an untraceable and anonymous way to move money across borders. Bitcoin, designed to allow peer-to-peer transactions without the need for banks or governments, would have been an ideal solution. If anyone had the motive to create such a tool, it was Le Roux. His illegal activities thrived on invisibility and untraceable financial systems, and Bitcoin provided exactly that. The structure of Bitcoin — decentralized, largely anonymous, and resistant to control at the time of his dealings — would have been the perfect financial instrument for someone running a vast international criminal network.

There are also direct links between Le Roux and the Bitcoin community, albeit subtle ones. During the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit involving Craig Wright (a man who also claims to be Satoshi), a court document included a reference to Le Roux’s Wikipedia page. This raised suspicions that Wright had access to Le Roux’s hard drives or other materials connected to Bitcoin’s creation. While this connection remains entirely speculative, it adds another intrigue to the theory. It’s possible that Wright, who has been widely discredited as Satoshi, may have stumbled upon information linking Le Roux to Bitcoin, which could explain why he included that reference in the legal case. Then, there’s Calvin Ayre, whose connection to both Wright and LeRoux deepens the mystery surrounding Bitcoin’s origins. Despite widespread skepticism, Ayre, a gambling magnate, reportedly backed Wright's claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto. The theory suggests that Ayre may know Wright isn't the real Satoshi, but he continues supporting him in gaining access to the private keys.

But wait, there’s more.

What’s in a name?

Le Roux’s alias, “Paul Solotshi Calder Le Roux,” might be one of the most compelling clues linking him to Bitcoin’s creation. The middle name “Solotshi” is strikingly close to “Satoshi,” don’t you think? It’s easy to imagine a criminal of Le Roux’s caliber adopting a clever variation of his name to hide in plain sight, especially in the midst of developing something as revolutionary as Bitcoin. Yes, I know, many will brush it off as a coincidence, but the similarity between the names is pretty hard to overlook.

Even after his arrest, Le Roux remained connected to Bitcoin in surprising ways. In 2020, while serving his prison sentence, he told a Manhattan judge that he planned to start a Bitcoin mining business after serving his time. The grizzled guru specifically mentioned his desire to design faster, more efficient mining hardware. Again, maybe it’s all just coincidental. Then, again, maybe not.

Although there’s no definitive proof that Paul Le Roux is Satoshi Nakamoto, the circumstantial evidence paints a rather compelling picture. Le Roux's mastery of cryptography, the suspicious timing of his vanishing from the public eye, his criminal motivations, and his tendency to use aliases all line up with the profile of Bitcoin’s mysterious creator. Le Roux is certainly a far more plausible candidate than Peter Todd. Todd, though respected in the cryptography community, has never been associated with the kind of large-scale, secretive operations that would require something like Bitcoin. His skills are undeniable, but he lacks the shadowy, high-stakes background that aligns so well with the motivations behind Bitcoin’s design.

Stock market CRASH: What does Warren Buffett know that we don't??



Americans woke up on Monday morning to a stock market plunge after a bad day on Friday. The Dow plummeted hundreds of points, Warren Buffett is selling stocks like crazy, and to top it all off, Japan’s stock market had its worst day since 1987’s Black Monday.

Glenn Beck is understandably worried.

“Friday, we had a bad jobs report. We’re still not in a recession; indicators are showing that we’re headed towards one, but the indicators have been wrong before. We are headed towards one; we’re headed for a depression at some point,” Glenn Beck warns.

Glenn is concerned about what this might mean for ordinary Americans and the United States economy and consults financial expert Carol Roth for some advice.

Roth explains that while the Fed did not lower rates, it might be on the table in September.

“Normally, you would say, ‘Okay, the market wants the Fed to cut rates,’ but what happened is then we got a weak job report on Friday, and while sometimes the bad news can be good news for the market, in this case, they took it as bad news,” Roth tells Glenn.

“The Fed was behind the curve in terms of lowering rates,” Roth continues. “They felt like maybe this whole idea of a quote ‘soft landing,’ the idea that you can get the inflation down without wrecking the economy, is off the table.”

However, while it doesn’t look good, Roth says that “if there is any silver lining here,” it’s that the market did not open back up and continue to fall.

But there are still major indicators that something strange is going on, and one of them is Warren Buffett’s recent behavior.

“Another catalyst that we’ve seen is Warren Buffett,” Roth says. “He had lessened his position in Apple by about 49%.”

“That’s not lessening. That’s cutting it in half,” Glenn says. “He’s making some of the biggest sales he’s ever made. It’s almost as if he’s becoming bullish on America. What does he know that we don’t know?”

“Starting in 2019, he doubled down on Japan. So he has five really big companies and really big positions in Japan. So the day that we’re talking about Japan going down and at the same time the U.S. is going down,” Roth says. “It is interesting.”


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A Trump Presidency Could Make U.S. The ‘Crypto Capital Of The Planet’

In stark contrast to the Biden-Harris administration’s approach toward cryptocurrency, Trump’s platform would invigorate the crypto industry and promote its growth.

Sen. Tim Scott champions Bitcoin as an investment for low-income Americans



Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) publicly declared his support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency for the first time at the Bitcoin 2024 conference.

The comments from South Carolina Republicans are a huge boost to crypto investors, given that Scott is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, which has oversight over the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Scott spoke to Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis at the conference in a one-on-one chat, in which he expressed his desire for regulatory bodies to allow cryptocurrencies to remain innovative.

"We need to make sure that on our Committee, the Banking Committee, that we create the kind of rules of the road that are very wide. We need a wide pathway for Bitcoin to be successful here at home. We need to make sure that things like taxation and regulation do not stifle innovation," Scott said.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has been criticized by cryptocurrency investors for not clearly defining the rules surrounding platforms and transactions. The SEC has reportedly punished crypto companies, making him a popular target for those speaking at the Bitcoin conference.

President Trump, for example, garnered huge applause when he pledged to fire Gensler, promising to end the "anti-crypto crusade" by the SEC.

Later, Sen. Scott claimed that cryptocurrency provides an opportunity for impoverished and lower-class Americans to make investments:

"I became a huge fan [of Bitcoin] because I grew up in a single-parent household mired in poverty, and I always wondered how do we get opportunity back to the poorest Americans to these marginalized communities," the 58-year-old told Sen. Lummis, according to Unchained. "The ability to bring resources and opportunities and access to the marketplace to the people who need it most — that is what Bitcoin is about ... to give the average American a chance."

Other politicians, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have touted Bitcoin and said that he is "fully committed" to the currency, admitting that he has "most of [his] wealth in Bitcoin."

Despite all the praise from politicians, noted skeptic and whistleblower Edward Snowden warned about the increase in government participation with crypto platforms.

"Cast a vote, but don't join a cult," he remarked, according to the Tennessean. "They are not our tribe. They are not your personality. They have their own interests, their own values, their own things that they're chasing. Try to get what you need from them, but don't give yourself to them."

However, Return's managing editor Peter Gietl, who attended the conference, said that politicians are now leaning toward Bitcoin after seeing its value increase exponentially over recent years.

"As of today, it's worth almost $1.4 trillion and is the ninth-most valuable asset in the world. It's no longer possible to ignore the power Bitcoin has in the world," Gietl said.

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Trump and RFK Jr., speaking at the Bitcoin conference, call for rejecting centralized banking



Presidential candidates Donald Trump's and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s speeches at the 2024 Bitcoin conference, which took place this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee, elated cryptocurrency fans and investors.

Kennedy appeared on a conference panel and described the government's reliance on the Federal Reserve as "parasitical."

"The relationship between Congress and the Fed is both parasitical to our country and it’s a symbiotic relationship. The Fed is not a public institution. ... The decision-makers are appointed by the banking industry."

'I want America to be the nation that leads the way.'

"Lockdowns ... shut down all the small business in this country, which is what we should be nurturing, and kept open the Walmarts, and the Amazons, and Facebook, and the oil industry, and the processed food industries, and Big Ag. They all flourished during that period," Kennedy continued, according to Coindesk.

Kennedy then called for more "sovereignty over our own wallets" and stated that America needed to remain the leader in blockchain technology.

RFK Jr. also made a surprise appearance at the Karate Combat mixed martial arts event taking place during the conference, telling commentators that he is a "huge supporter of Bitcoin."

"I have most of my wealth in Bitcoin," he added. "I am fully committed."

The candidate also somewhat upstaged Trump by revealing that the Republican nominee had plans to announce a government stockpile of Bitcoin should he be elected.

According to Business Insider, Kennedy said, "I understand that [Trump] may announce his plan to build a Bitcoin Fort Knox and authorize the U.S. government to buy a million Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. And I applaud that announcement."

Image by Peter Gietl

Similarly, Trump called cryptocurrency "the steel industry of 100 years ago" in his speech and reportedly pledged to keep all of the Bitcoin owned by the federal government as a "strategic national Bitcoin stockpile."

Quoting the popular "to the moon" phrase, Trump said that if crypto is indeed headed in that direction, he wants it to be "mined, minted, and made in the USA."

"I want America to be the nation that leads the way," he added.

Newsweek noted a series of pledges made by Trump at the conference in addition to his idea of a national stockpile.

This included crypto-friendly policies, with the former president saying that the nation has "never thrived" by trying to "censor new ideas."

The Republican also garnered huge applause when he pledged to fire Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and promised to end the "anti-crypto crusade" by the SEC.

Other propositions by Trump included creating a "Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council," with policy written by "people who love" the cryptocurrency industry, not those who "hate" it. This came alongside a promise to end "Operation Choke Point 2.0," referring to federal regulators' efforts to discourage banks from working with cryptocurrency companies and providing crypto services.

Lastly, Trump warned that if the United States didn't take the lead in crypto, "China will do it."

His latest remarks are a stark contrast from his previous views on crypto in 2019, when he said "Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies" are "not money" and are "highly volatile."

— (@)

'Does this feel normal to you?'

Return's managing editor, Peter Gietl, who was in Nashville covering the conference, said Trump likely re-evaluated his stance after he saw Bitcoin become a financial powerhouse.

"When Trump first took office, Bitcoin was still viewed nationally as a fringe issue or even a scam. As the price skyrocketed in 2020, more countries and major financial institutions took notice and began to get involved," Gietl said.

"As of today, it's worth almost $1.4 trillion and is the ninth-most valuable asset in the world. It's no longer possible to ignore the power Bitcoin has in the world. I believe President Trump and other politicians recognize this transformation and are now ready to work with the companies and personalities leading the Bitcoin charge," he added.

Appearances from other politicians at the conference, like Republicans Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy, drew skepticism from some, including whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Image by Peter Gietl

"Cast a vote, but don't join a cult," he remarked, according to the Tennessean. "They are not our tribe. They are not your personality. They have their own interests, their own values, their own things that they're chasing. Try to get what you need from them, but don't give yourself to them."

Oppositely, X owner Elon Musk responded to the event by saying he did see "merit" in Bitcoin.

"I'm not going to be promoting crypto — at most, in a joking way. If you see me pumping crypto, it's not me," the billionaire said, according to the Block. "I do think there's some merit in Bitcoin, and maybe some other cryptos, and I've sort of got a soft spot for Dogecoin because I like dogs and memes," he added.

Nonetheless, the attention the conference received is a giant step up from where the industry was just a few years ago. It now seems like an entire generation has passed since the Dogecoin millionaires were created and the Winklevoss twins became Bitcoin billionaires.

Should Trump be elected, it could result in an entirely new era of crypto capitalists emerging with some serious power in the economy.

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The Shocking Opening to the Paris Olympics

The Shocking Opening to the Paris Olympics

The MAGA and Bitcoin worlds collide today in Nashville



The Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, is kicking into overdrive as President Trump is set to give the keynote address to a large, raucous audience. The Bitcoin Conference is the largest event in the world, bringing together people who work and invest in the space. Some of the smartest and wealthiest players in the crypto world are here to drink, mingle, and extol the virtues of a currency with an outlaw ethos.

Blaze Media has been covering the event and interviewing politicians and CEOs about the future of Bitcoin and how it will affect Americans. Security has been extremely tight because of Trump’s appearance and RFK Jr. speaking yesterday. Multiple layers of intense Secret Service checkpoints are in place, causing massive delays for the thousands of attendees entering the main auditorium.

Trump is rumored to announce his plan for America to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve that will radically transform the financial landscape.

The conference kicked off yesterday with a slate of speakers talking about the world of finance, fiat currencies printing their way into inflationary abyss, and how Bitcoin can provide a decentralized solution for people seeking to disengage from the Big Government and Big Finance.

— (@)

What began as an elegant and secure peer-to-peer network, confined to a small part of the internet, has transformed into a financial powerhouse worth nearly $1.4 trillion. The Bitcoin world has always attracted dissident thinkers and characters who enjoy being outside the mainstream of politics and standard financial thinking. It has been gaining value and influence for years, but the lockdowns in 2020, caused by COVID-19, launched Bitcoin into the stratosphere. As people were stuck at home and governments printed trillions of dollars out of thin air, the idea of a secure, deflationary alternative became attractive.

Bitcoin has always been a refuge for Libertarian-minded people who did not trust Modern Monetary Theory, based on Keynesian economics, where central banks can print money to infinity to solve any problem and fund any war. Because Bitcoin has a hard limit to the number of Bitcoins that can ever be created, it has more in common with gold or silver than Dollars or Euros. The history of Bitcoin is complicated and lengthy, but politicians traditionally ignored it or even treated it with disdain. The Bitcoin true believers often viewed politicians with contempt. However, there has been a marked shift, exemplified by this conference, of politicians paying attention.

Yesterday, Robert Kennedy Jr. gave a rousing speech extolling the virtues of Bitcoin as a safeguard of liberty and a defense against government intrusion in our finances. He also talked about his plan to have the US Government start buying Bitcoin to match the value of our national gold reserves.

Michael Saylor addresses the crowd. By Peter Gietl

Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the probable Senate Banking Committee Chair in a possible GOP-led Senate next year, announced for the first time his pro-Bitcoin position. He took the stage along with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and they signaled that the Government, and specifically the GOP, is ready to work with Bitcoin rather than trying to regulate it into oblivion. They are also courting the considerable wealth in the room for campaign contributions.

The real news will be when President Donald Trump will take the stage to lay out his vision for the future of Bitcoin in America. He’s already made news by becoming the first Presidential candidate to accept donations in Bitcoin. He is rumored to announce his plan for America to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve that will radically transform the financial landscape. We’re in unchartered territory, but if this happens, it will fully bring Bitcoin to the mainstream and chart a new path for money and central banks. We’ll be here ready to break any news.