Technology

The Trump token

This is 100% BS, don't buy that crap. If you want cryptocurrency, buy one of the established coins, like BTC, XMR, or ETH.

Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, is “based on thin air.” It is a “scam.” It can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.” These are Public Citizen positions. But they are also direct comments from then President Donald J. Trump.

I don't see how one relates to the two. In both cases and as stated by others here, those statements also apply to the US Dollar, which is one of the most respected and certainly one of the most used currencies in the world. BTC itself is not great for illegal activity because every transaction is traceable, so you're better off using the Lightning network or a privacy coin (e.g. XMR) to approximate the privacy features that the USD provides. But even then, if you lose your device, law enforcement could figure out all of your transactions, whereas cash transactions are completely untraceable.

This article just looks like a dig at Trump, and cryptocurrencies got caught in the crossfire. I'm 100% on board with calling the Trump token a scam because the intent there is really clear: to raise funding for Trump. There's no expectation that this coin will meaningfully exist in 5 years, and probably not even 1.

So call a spade a spade, Trump's cryptocurrency is a scam. But that doesn't mean all cryptocurrencies are scams, it just means you need to make sure you trust those in control of the currency before using it. That's true for national currencies, and I wouldn't recommend buying Venezuelan Bolivares because the government backing it isn't trustworthy.