Former President Trump intensifies cryptocurrency advocacy for 2024 campaign

Former United States President Donald Trump is making waves in the cryptocurrency world as he intensifies his advocacy for digital assets as part of his 2024 presidential campaign. At a recent fundraising event in San Francisco, Trump boldly declared himself as the “crypto president” and reiterated his support for the industry, contrasting it with the Democratic Party’s stance on harsh regulations.

While some experts believe that a crypto shift is happening in Washington, with the U.S. moving towards regulatory clarity, the industry is not waiting around for change. Crypto exchange Coinbase recently donated $25 million to the crypto-focused super PAC Fairshake, joining other major players like Ripple and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz in supporting the industry’s lobbying efforts ahead of the November U.S. elections.

In other news, the Qatar Central Bank has launched the first phase of an experimental central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, focusing on settlements of large payments among local and international banks. The project will run through October and will explore the use of distributed ledger technology and artificial intelligence to enhance liquidity and transactions with securities.

Meanwhile, Worldcoin, the company behind the human identity and financial network, has suspended its operations in Spain following investigations by data protection authorities in Spain and Germany. The Tools for Humanity Corporation, which operates Worldcoin, will not resume collecting and processing data until the end of 2024 or until final resolutions are reached.

Lastly, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has approved a new licensing system for stablecoins, aiming to boost digital transactions, advance the country’s digital economy, and foster innovation. The regulations clarify the issuance, licensing, and supervision of dirham-backed payment tokens, ensuring they are backed by UAE dirhams and not linked to other currencies, digital assets, or algorithms. The CBUAE’s move towards a central bank digital currency (CBDC) also aims to address cross-border payment inefficiencies and drive domestic payment innovation.