US President, Donald Trump dislikes cryptocurrencies saying they are based on “thin air”. In contrast, Steve Bannon who served as White House Chief Strategist during the first 10 months of Trump’s presidential administration is of the opinion that cryptocurrencies have a big future. Bannon is no stranger to cryptocurrencies. In a previous interview with CNBC, he revealed he is heavily invested in bitcoin.
Additionally, back in June 14, 2018, The New York Times made public that Steve’s firm, Bannon & Company was planning to launch multiple initial coin offerings (ICO) mentioning that this project was still in the early stages. The Times also revealed that Bannon had held private meetings with hedge fund managers and crypto investors to discuss this ICO issuance.
Bannon Has An Undeniable Fondness For Bitcoin
In a video interview yesterday with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Mr. Bannon told the hosts that he purchased his bitcoin stash during 2018’s “crypto winter”, saying he had “enough foresight, enough courage” to buy as the prices dipped to as low as $3,200. This bullish bearing led to CNBC’s host Joe Kernen, now a bitcoin proponent, to give Steve a new moniker: Bitcoin Bannon. He added:
“I think cryptocurrencies have a big future. I think they could be a very important part going forward particularly in this global populist revolt.”
It pays to remember that populism is a political ideology that was popularized in the 19th century which aims to give back power to ordinary people that have been ignored by the ruling government or the elite class. To date, most people believe this theme is still prevalent in the US. Populism mirrors bitcoin’s design in that it is intended to put power over money back in the hands of the ordinary people away from governments and the elite class.
Bannon is a staunch believer of populism. In a previous interview with The New York Times, Steve spoke about bitcoin saying:
“It’s a disruptive populism. It takes control back from central authorities. It’s revolutionary.”
Presently, Bannon and other venturesome investors who bought bitcoin during the crypto winter are reaping the benefits of these purchases as bitcoin is exchanging hands at $10,784.63 at press time and seems to be gearing up for a parabolic rise.
What Does Bannon Think About Facebook’s Libra?
Bannon shared his views about Libra alluding that it will face opposition from the banking system when it launches. He opined:
“The central banks and actually the banking community want to get in and regulate crypto. They want to still stick to fiat currency.”
However, he noted that Libra and other cryptocurrency-based payment systems will help reduce dependency on the dollar as a reserve currency.
“I happen to think that Facebook was principally against some of the Chinese ALibaba, Tencent, etc – these payment systems. I think that what people have to confront now, and people have started looking at how the Chinese and third world countries – in Sub-Saharan Africa, in South Asia, and I think potentially in Latin America – are starting to put these payment systems in. They are going to kind of give them – try to give them global dominance and be able to get off the reserve currency of the dollar,” Bannon asserted.
