‘Hard-Asset Family’: Trump Sons Launch Bitcoin Mining Venture

'We are a hard-asset family. I’m a hard-asset guy'

Is Trump's 'strategic Bitcoin reserve' a good idea? Crypto expert explains



President Donald Trump is making good on his campaign promise to turn the United States into the crypto capital of the planet by going all in on cryptocurrency in his second term.

Crypto expert and Ten31 managing partner Marty Bent is thrilled with Trump’s move — particularly with the strategic Bitcoin reserve.

“I think one thing that I’m looking forward to is that getting enshrined into law. Right now, we have the executive order, and as we’ve seen with executive orders from administration to administration, they can be rendered moot if the other side of the aisle gets into office in 2028,” Bent tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight.”


“So enshrining the strategic Bitcoin reserve into law is my number one priority,” he continues. “And I think the way it’s laid out in the Lummis bill is great for two reasons.”

One of those reasons, Bent says, is that Bitcoin is described in the bill as “an asset worth holding and we’re going to try to accumulate as much as possible in an attempt to defease the national debt.”

“And just as importantly, but not really talked about as much, is the right to self-custody,” he says.

“So I think those two things, accumulating Bitcoin with the intent of defeasing the national debt, which has gotten out of control, and enshrining the rights of individuals to hold and send Bitcoin without having to use a centralized third party, would be massive for the country,” he adds.

However, under the Biden administration, Bent explains that “there were worries that laws were going to be passed that would make it so you would have to use a centralized third party to access Bitcoin.”

Which makes it more important that the Trump administration focuses on enshrining the right to self custody into law.

“That would be incredible,” he says.

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FACT CHECK: No, Trump Didn’t Sign An Executive Order Establishing A Bitcoin Reserve

A post shared on X claims President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a bitcoin reserve. Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a bitcoin reserve pic.twitter.com/ZH2cdZccGa — Crypto Tea (@CryptoTea_) January 23, 2025 Verdict: Misleading The executive order did not create a bitcoin reserve. Fact Check: Trump signed an executive order […]

FACT CHECK: No, Video Doesn’t Show Trump Signing Executive Order On Crypto

A video shared on X claims to show President Donald Trump signing an executive order removing capital gains tax on crypto. 🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump has just signed an executive order removing ALL capital gains tax on US based cryptocurrency’s This is HUGE. pic.twitter.com/nK7n8Ok8NU — Fez (@FezWeb3) January 21, 2025 Verdict: False It shows Trump signing […]

Snoop Dogg boards the MAGA train — but should we welcome him?



Hip-hop rap mogul Snoop Dogg has apparently joined Team Trump. On Friday, January 17, the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” singer performed at a crypto event celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration. Now, many of his fans are ready to drop him like he’s hot. The backlash from Trump-haters has been swift for Snoop.

Unfortunately, he may find that Trump’s loyal supporters don’t want him either. After all, the musician did pretend to shoot a Trump clown in the music video for his song “Lavender” back in 2017. He’s also made several hateful remarks about the president’s supporters. Before Trump’s first inauguration, Snoop Dogg took to social media and vowed to make fun of anyone who performed at the ceremony: “I’m gonna roast the f**k out one of you Uncle Tom a** n***** for doing it,” he said.

Given Snoop's history, Jason Whitlock, for one, isn’t ready to welcome him to the team.

“I just don't like Snoop being fast-tracked on board the MAGA train,” he tells contributors Shemeka Michelle, Urboy Butter, and T.J. Moe.

Shemeka agrees. “I am a Snoop Dogg fan, and it still pissed me off.”

“I just don't like the fact that he was able to say all of the things that he said, putting down Trump supporters … and then he gets, like you said, fast-tracked,” she admits. “I welcome everybody onto the Trump train, but they need to sit in the back.”

Butter, on the other hand, thinks it’s in our best interest to welcome Snoop Dogg and other celebrities to the MAGA movement — even if it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

“For so long the Democrats have owned culture in America,” he says, but Snoop Dogg’s performance at the event “is symbolic of what's happening and what Donald Trump has done.”

“We are in control of culture now. … [Snoop Dogg] being allowed to come in, to me, is an indication of change,” he tells the panel. “This is the Democrat stranglehold over culture being disintegrated right in front of our eyes.”

T.J. Moe has a different perspective. While many think that Snoop Dogg is just pandering to power, Moe says that his sudden reversal “might be real” because many celebrities genuinely “liked Trump before they had to pretend to hate him.”

Why Trump continues to welcome back people like Snoop Dogg, however, is beyond him.

Whitlock, upon hearing the news that Snoop Dogg would be performing at the gala, was disappointed, but mostly because he wanted it to be Kanye West, who’s “been an authentic Trump supporter since day one.”

He also speculates that it’s only a matter of time before Snoop Dogg deboards the MAGA train.

“I can see Snoop Dogg in 12 months cutting a new song and video — 'I tried MAGA and they just as racist as I thought they were,'” he says. “I just don’t trust Snoop Dogg.”

To hear more of the panel’s analysis, watch the clip above.

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$10M prize for PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf 'Showdown' to be paid entirely in cryptocurrency



A made-for-TV golf game between the stars of the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's LIV Golf will award $10 million in cryptocurrency.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy will play an 18-hole prize match against No. 10-ranked Bryson DeChambeau and No. 79 Brooks Koepka.

The December 17 showdown will officially be called the "Crypto.com Showdown," with the title sponsor providing a crypto-backed purse for the first time in PGA history.

Front Office Sports reported that the $10 million prize will be paid entirely in the Crypto.com native currency, called Cronos. At the time of this writing, one Cronos is currently valued around $0.227. The $10 million equates to about 44 million Cronos.

It was not confirmed, however, how the prize would be distributed between the winning and losing teams.

Neither the PGA nor LIV are the first sports brands to integrate cryptocurrency into their winnings or payments.

The UFC added $60,000 Bitcoin bonuses voted on by fans in 2023. The "Fan Bonus of the Night" awards were in $30,000, $20,000, and $10,000 increments, paid out to fighters. Crypto.com was also the sponsor for that endeavor, as part of a 10-year, $175 million partnership with the UFC.

Karate Combat, another fight league, has fully integrated cryptocurrency into its business model.

With its own token ($KARATE), Karate Combat allows viewers to own a stake in the sport while also earning more coins through games on the platform UpOnly. This play-to-earn model allows users to gain cryptocurrency while the game designer earns revenue through licensing, ads, microtransactions, or subscriptions.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency overall have skyrocketed since Donald Trump's election win. On the campaign trail, he pledged to end the "anti-crypto crusade" by the SEC.

Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) publicly declared his support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency for the first time at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July. The senator touted cryptocurrency as an opportunity for impoverished and lower-class Americans to make investments.

The PGA vs. LIV match will take place at the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada. It follows in the footsteps of previous TV golf events like the Netflix Cup and Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson.

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Obama DOJ initiative became political de-banking scheme, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen tells Joe Rogan



Brexiteer Nigel Farage was de-banked last year for political reasons. While acknowledging he was a commercially viable customer, Coutts bank, part of the NatWest Group, dropped the British politician because of his comparison of Black Lives Matter rioters to the Taliban; his criticism of climate alarmism and his suggestion that "net zero is net stupid"; his "endorsements of Donald Trump"; and other expressions thought unpalatable by the powers that be.

Although Britain has done its best in recent months to clamp down on perceived wrong think, including silent prayer, it is hardly exceptional when it comes to the practice of de-banking.

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, recently told Joe Rogan that scores of tech founders have been de-banked under the Biden administration through a coordinated and politically motivated effort he referred to as "Operation Choke Point 2.0," an apparent update on a scandalous Obama Department of Justice initiative. In the days since the interview, numerous crypto entrepreneurs have gone online with their own de-banking tales.

The 'wrong politics'

After explaining that "de-banking is when you, as either a person or your company, are literally kicked out of the banking system," Andreessen told Rogan that it has hit close to home — his business partner's father was de-banked.

When asked why David Horowitz, a critic of Islamic and leftist extremism, would have been de-banked, Andreessen said, "For having the wrong politics. For saying unacceptable things."

"I mean, David Horowitz is, you know — he's pro-Trump," said Andreessen. "I mean, he's said all kinds of things. You know, he's been very anti-Islamic terrorism. He's been very worried about immigration, all these things."

Other individuals and groups who have been de-banked in recent years were similarly on the right, which may explain why the Southern Poverty Law Center has defended the practice.

'There's no constitutional amendment that says the government can't de-bank you.'

In September 2023, Bank of America de-banked John Eastman, founding director of the Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence and one of the attorneys also targeted by the 65 Project for his work with President-elect Donald Trump. Two months later, USAAA Federal Saving Bank similarly de-banked him.

Former Nebraska state Treasurer John Murante (R) noted in an op-ed last year that Chase had de-banked multiple individuals and organizations — including the Arkansas Family Council, Defense of Liberty, and retired general Michael Flynn Jr. — over "mainstream American views."

Months after JPMorgan Chase canceled the checking account for former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's faith-based nonprofit National Committee for Religious Freedom, Brownback reportedly received an email from Chase indicating that he was a "politically exposed person."

"Under current banking regulations, after all the reforms of the last 20 years, there's now a category called a 'politically exposed person,' PEP," Andreessen told Rogan. "You are required by financial regulators to kick them off, to kick them out of your bank. You're not allowed to have them."

According to a 2021 Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council document, the "term PEP is commonly used in the financial industry to refer to foreign individuals who are or have been entrusted with a prominent public function, as well as to their immediate family members and close associates." The term has also been applied to domestic individuals similarly entrusted with prominent public functions.

The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, an international outfit hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, noted in its own definition that due to their position and influence, many PEPs "are in positions that potentially can be abused for the purpose of committing money laundering offences and related predicate offenses, including corruption and bribery, as well as conducting activity related to terrorist financing."

Andreessen suggested that the de-banking of domestic PEPs tends to go only one way, noting, "I have not heard of a single instance of anyone on the left getting de-banked."

A private-public scheme

The tech entrepreneur explained that this politically unidirectional mechanism is wielded by a combination of governmental and private forces.

"There's a constitutional amendment that says the government can't restrict your speech, but there's no constitutional amendment that says the government can't de-bank you," said Andreessen.

The government leans on private banking institutions to do its dirty work, which gives it the benefit of distance, such that "the government gets to say, 'We didn't do it. It was the private company that did it, and of course, JPMorgan can decide who they want to have as customers.'"

Andreessen characterized the political persecution scheme as a "privatized sanctions regime that lets bureaucrats do to American citizens the same thing that we do to Iran: Just kick you out of the financial system."

According to Andreessen, this "regime" has been targeting numerous crypto entrepreneurs since President Joe Biden took office.

'It's just raw administrative power.'

"This has been happening to a lot of the fin-tech entrepreneurs, anybody trying to start any kind of new banking service, because they're trying to protect the big banks," said Andreessen. "This has been happening, by the way, also in legal fields of economic activity that they don't like."

Thanks, Obama

Andreessen suggested that this coordinated effort to crush perceived political adversaries through monetary pressures kicked off in earnest "about 15 years ago with this thing called Operation Choke Point."

Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel and senior vice president of corporate engagement at the Alliance Defending Freedom, told members of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in March:

In the now infamous Operation Choke Point, President Obama's DOJ and FDIC spearheaded a multi-agency initiative to target legal industries like firearms dealers, tobacco sellers, dating services, coin dealers, and payday lenders. After a group of payday lenders sued the FDIC, litigation filings and subsequent federal oversight offered a rare look into the world of financial regulation. The FDIC expanded "reputational risk" to include "any negative publicity involving the third party." It then worked in conjunction with the DOJ and other agencies to pressure financial institutions to deny service to disfavored industries. The DOJ issued over 60 subpoenas; the FDIC and OCC issued related guidance on the reputation risk presented by payment processing for these entities; and the FDIC listed the above businesses as "high-risk businesses," all with the intent to cut off banking access to these industries.

Andreessen suggested that the Biden administration extended the concept to apply to political opponents as well as to crypto and tech entrepreneurs.

"Choke Point 2.0 is primarily against their political enemies and then to their disfavored tech startups," said Andreessen. "And it's hit the tech world hard. We've had like 30 founders de-banked in the last four years."

According to the tech entrepreneur, those he knows who have been de-banked effectively had to reinvent themselves or get creative with where they put their money to "try to get away from the eye of Sauron."

Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, noted after Elon Musk highlighted Andreessen's comments that he was de-banked and suggested that there have likely been far more than 30 individuals de-banked in the burgeoning industry.

"Totally unlawful, evil behavior," said Winklevoss.

Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, responded to Andreessen's claims, noting, "Can confirm this is true. It was one one of the most unethical and un-American things that happened in the Biden administration, and my guess is we'll find Elizabeth Warren's fingerprints all over it (Biden himself was probably unaware). We're still collecting documents via FOIA requests, so hopefully the full story emerges of who was involved and whether they broke any laws."

Konstantin Richter, CEO of Blockdaemon, claimed that Bank of America similarly cut his organization loose.

The nature of de-banking leaves victims with few or no means to seek remedy.

"You can't go sue a regulator to fix this. It's not through any kind of court judgment. It's just raw power. It's just raw administrative power," said Andreessen. "It's the government or politicians just deciding that things are going to be a certain way, and then they just apply pressure until they get it."

To make matters worse, "There are no fingerprints," said Andreessen. Those behind the de-banking are virtually untouchable.

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Frenchman who saw through pollsters' failure and media's skew makes fortune betting on Trump



A mystery trader identifying himself only as Thèo secured an estimated $48 million in profits betting that the 45th president would be elected the 47th president.

The trader, a Frenchman with a financial services background who has been dubbed the "Trump whale," reportedly used four anonymous accounts — Theo4, Fredi9999, PrincessCaro and Michieon — on the crypto-based betting site Polymarket to bet on President Donald Trump to win the popular vote as well as most battleground states.

Thèo suspected that establishment pollsters and the mainstream media had overestimated support for Kamala Harris and once again underestimated Trump's support.

Thèo told Visegrád 24 prior to Election Day, "The polls are really different from the predictive odds in the predictive markets. It calculates something totally different. One is calculating what are the intentions of the people to vote. The other are bets made by real people with real money about who they believe the winner will be."

The Frenchman noted in August, he began to realize that "media outlets are making the same mistakes they made in 2016 and 2020 underestimating the Trump vote. Why? Because, again, it's underestimating the shy Trump vote effect."

The Princeton Election Consortium indicated, for example, in November 2016 that Hillary Clinton had a 99% chance of beating Trump, projecting her to take 312 electoral votes. FiveThirtyEight, then Nate Silver's polling outfit, suggested that Clinton's had a 71.4% chance of winning. Polls conducted that year by the Washington Post, ABC News, Google Consumer Surveys, Ipsos, YouGov, Fox News, Selzer & Company, and other outfits were similarly way off the mark, all putting Clinton ahead by several points.

Thèo indicated that this time around, the New York Times/Siena College polls and others were making the same mistakes, noting that in one instance, a poll showing Harris ahead by 2 percentage points in North Carolina was actually "un-representative by 9.3 percentage points."

'Don't trust the mainstream media.'

Prior to Election Day, Thèo told a reporter at the Wall Street Journal who had taken an interest in the trader's enormous bets that RealClearPolitics polling averages showed Trump outdoing his swing-state polling numbers in the previous presidential election, which was particularly close.

Recognizing that the races would again be close in swing states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and factoring in the "shy Trump voter effect" — which the mainstream polling outfits apparently neglected to account for — the trader realized the Republican had upwards of a 90% chance of winning the day and a 65% chance of winning the popular vote.

The Frenchman took the addition step of commissioning a major pollster to conduct surveys to measure the "neighbor effect" stateside. Thèo noted that while the shy voter effect undermined the reliability of normal polls, neighbor polls — where respondents are asked which candidates their neighbors would likely support — would provide a better indication of voter preferences.

Thèo told the Journal that the results "were mind blowing to the favor of Trump!"

"Public opinion would have been better prepared if the latest polls had measured that neighbor effect," he added.

Bloomberg indicated that Polymarket bets on which candidate would become the 47th president produced almost $3.7 billion in volume this cycle.

Polymarket released a statement Wednesday morning, noting, "Last night, Polymarket proved the wisdom of markets over the polls, the media, and the pundits. Polymarket consistently and accurately forecasted outcomes well ahead of all three, demonstrating the power of high volume, deeply liquid prediction markets like those pioneered by Polymarket."

The company later shared a screenshot of an Oct. 22 Time magazine headline that read, "Don't Trust the Political Prediction Markets," commenting, "Don't trust the mainstream media."

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Markets surge to record highs, dollar jumps following Trump victory



President Donald Trump promised to usher in the "golden age of America" in his victory speech early Wednesday morning. At the open of trading hours later, the Dow gained over 1,320 points (in excess of 3%) while the S&P 500 index increased by 1.9% and the Nasdaq rose by 2.2%.

CNN indicated that this is the first time the Dow has jumped over 1,000 points in a single day since November 2022.

While some analysts suspect the decisiveness of the win may have put some investors at ease, others figure Trump's policy proposals — especially those pertaining to deregulation and taxes — have investors excited.

Michael Block, COO at AgentSmyth, told CNN, "There is this huge perception of [a] business friendly, tax-friendly regime coming into place, especially with them winning the Senate."

'Business animal spirits could be rekindled once again.'

Republicans have secured a majority in the U.S. Senate and are poised to keep the House.

"Assuming the House goes Republican, we expect that a Red Sweep outcome will play out in a similar fashion to the 2016 playbook but to a lesser degree given a more mature economic backdrop and higher equity valuations," Jeff Schulze at ClearBridge Investments told Bloomberg. "Business animal spirits could be rekindled once again from Trump's pro-business approach."

As it became clear Trump was going to win in a landslide, the price of Bitcoin rocketed from south of $70,000 to over $75,000 overnight, zigzagging around $74,400 Wednesday morning. This jump was energized by Trump's embrace of crypto on the campaign trail.

In July, Trump told crypto boosters at a Bitcoin conference in Tennessee that he would make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet."

Not only did the U.S. dollar rise against the euro, the peso, the Japanese yen, and the Chinese yuan in response to Trump's landslide win — the biggest rise since March 2020 — the New York Times indicated that yields on U.S. government bonds also climbed sharply. Treasury 10-year yields reportedly advanced 18 basis points to 4.45%.

While the American market was ostensibly made great again, European stocks took a tumble Wednesday afternoon. CNBC noted that the pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.68% by 4 p.m. London time.

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FACT CHECK: Did Elon Musk Announce A New Crypto Project Via A Post And A Billboard?

Images shared on Threads claim Tesla CEO and owner of X, Elon Musk, announced a new crypto project via a post shared on the platform and a billboard.   Post by @louayxdxd View on Threads   Verdict: False Check Your Fact conducted an advanced search of Musk’s verified X account and did not find any […]