Donald Trump, the former U.S. president who's embraced bitcoin and crypto in recent months and floated a radical plan to pay off the U.S.'s $35 trillion debt pile, could shake up the banking world if he retakes the White House this year.
Trump, who made a headline appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference last month alongside an "absolute game-changer" bitcoin bill, has fueled wild speculation of a bitcoin price boom.
Now, as the crypto market braces for a Wall Street earthquake, Trump's son Don Jr. has launched a Telegram channel for the Trump so-called decentralized finance (DeFi) project that his brother Eric said will "shake up" the world of banking and finance.
Sign up now for the free CryptoCodex—A daily five-minute newsletter for traders, investors and the crypto-curious that will get you up to date and keep you ahead of the bitcoin and crypto market bull run
Read More: ‘Institutions Are Coming’—$35 Trillion U.S. Dollar Collapse Predicted To Trigger A Bitcoin Price Boom To Rival Gold
ForbesIt’s ‘Over’—Leak Sparks Serious U.S. Crypto Crackdown Fears As The Bitcoin Price Bounces BackBy
The Telegram channel will give people information on the Trump family's upcoming DeFi crypto project amid rampant "rumors" and wild "speculation" about it, according to Don Jr., who called on people join to "get the real story."
"A lot of rumors are swirling about our crypto project," Don Jr. posted to X. "To get the real story and stay updated with official announcements, join our official Telegram channel. Don’t rely on speculation—get the news directly here!"
The channel, which has under 20,000 subscribers as of this morning, has posted just one message: "Welcome to The DeFiant Ones—the only official Telegram channel for the Trump DeFi project! We're thrilled to have you join our growing community. Please be aware that this is the only official channel for our project. Stay vigilant and do not fall for impersonations or scams—our team will never DM you first. Let's build the future of finance together. Be DeFiant!"
The Defiant Ones is also a trademark registered by a company called AMG Software Solutions, which also filed trademark applications for the terms "Be DeFiant," "World Liberty" and "World Liberty Financial," it was reported by The Block.
As details of the Trump crypto project trickle out, it's looking likely to be pitched as a bank account alternative, with the Trump brothers Eric and Don Jr., last week shooting down speculation of a memecoin.
"It’s digital real estate," Eric told the New York Post this week, referring to cryptocurrencies. "It’s equitable. It’s collateral anyone can get access to and do so instantly. I don’t know if people realize what a shake up that is for the world of banking and finance. I hope we can help change that."
Banking and finance have become politicized in recent years, most notably by the Canada trucking protests against covid vaccine mandates that resulted in prime minister Justin Trudeau freezing the bank accounts of protesters. Elsewhere, U.K. politician Nigel Farage claimed his bank account was closed partly due to his politics were deemed "at odds" with the bank.
"Essentially over half this country right now cannot be banked,” Eric Trump told the Post. "Meaning they will be rejected for most loans from most institutions. But with this technology they could have the ability to almost instantaneously be approved or denied from a lender based on math, not policy. Money could be in their account in minutes, not months."
MORE FROMFORBES ADVISOR
Sign up now for CryptoCodex—A free, daily newsletter for the crypto-curious
Forbes‘Don’t Be Fooled’—Coinbase Issues Serious Warning After $800 Billion Bitcoin And Crypto Price CrashBy
Rumors of an official Trump coin began flying last week after a series of X posts by Eric and Don Jr., who teased a "big" crypto announcement but later dismissed speculation of a Trump coin and said their plans were for a crypto platform.
"I think what we want to do is sort of, take on a lot of the banking world," Don Jr. said during a live-streamed Q&A on subscription-based platform Locals last week. "This notion of decentralized finance is obviously very appealing to guys like me who’ve been de-banked or haven’t been able to get insurance or what not."
Last month, Trump, who has leaned into bitcoin and crypto after making millions from a series of crypto-based digital trading cards, promised to create a "strategic national bitcoin reserve" and predicted bitcoin could eclipse gold's $16 trillion market capitalization during a headline speech at the the Bitcoin
"If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future, we'll keep 100%," Trump said during his speech. "This will serve, in effect, as the core of the strategic national bitcoin stockpile."
