Donald Trump’s latest appeal to pro-crypto voters includes asking Elon Musk for policy tips

Newly convicted felon Donald Trump has been taking a pro-crypto stance in recent weeks as part of his bid to win over fans of the digital asset. The latest indication that Trump is hoping to court the elusive “crypto voter”: The former president turned to Elon Musk for advice on shaping crypto policy, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Dialogue between the two has accelerated in recent months, according to Bloomberg, as the Trump campaign increasingly leans on Musk’s crypto insight and influence. Trump ally, fellow entrepreneur and failed election candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is a close friend of Musk and is reportedly mediating the discussions. The crypto-related contact fits into a broader discussion about how Musk could take on an advisory role if Trump returns to office, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Trump campaign is also reportedly considering asking Musk to speak at the Republican convention in July. Musk appeared at a fundraiser for Trump in March but later said he would not donate to either party. He also pushed back on Bloomberg’s latest report, writing to

When Musk talks about crypto, people listen. Several times his posts on X caused memecoin prices to skyrocket; for example, when he shared a photo of his dog Marvin on his birthday, it caused the price of the memecoin Marvin Inu to rise by over 400%. CoinGecko data. In April 2023, he temporarily changed the home button on

Why is Trump going after potential crypto voters?

Polls show Trump leading President Joe Biden by just 1.7 percentage points, and cryptocurrency, once an environmental policy concern, is becoming increasingly politicized as even 100,000 or so votes could make a difference in November.

A recent survey of US voters by Harris Poll shows that cryptocurrency is becoming a bigger voting issue for many outside the core Web3 community. 41% of survey respondents agree with the following statement: “I am showing more interest in Bitcoin due to geopolitical tensions, inflation and risks to the US dollar.” This rate was 34% in November 2023. Meanwhile, a third of survey respondents said digital assets would feature in their support for candidates.

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As a result, Trump has further gained favor with crypto enthusiasts in recent weeks. Last Tuesday, the presidential campaign was rumored to begin accepting donations through any accepted crypto asset through Coinbase. “In an attack on cryptocurrency, Biden surrogate Elizabeth Warren said she was building an ‘anti-crypto army’ to restrict Americans’ rights to make their own financial choices,” the campaign said in the announcement, referencing a re-election ad Warren ran. she said. Last year

Is Trump’s conviction enough to turn away those same voters?

But Trump’s penchant for crypto may be overshadowed by its new criminal status.

On Thursday, Trump was convicted of 34 felonies, and Musk immediately condemned the decision. A 12-person jury in Manhattan found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump called the trial a “disgrace” and insisted he was an “innocent man.” Judge Juan Merchan will determine Trump’s sentence on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention begins. Falsifying business records carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison, but absent a prior conviction, prison time is far from guaranteed.

Indeed, great damage has been done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system.

If a former President could be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter driven by politics rather than justice, then everyone else would be at risk of facing a similar fate. https://t.co/zrHCyIZazh

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2024

Trump is both the first former president and potential future president to be criminally convicted. While this does not prevent him from being re-elected (the Constitution states that voters will decide this), it remains unclear to what extent his conviction will affect voters.

However, according to CoinGecko data, as soon as the news of the 34 count broke, the price of MAGA ($TRUMP) memecoin dropped 15% to $11.41. However, it soon rose to an all-time high of $16.84 as of 19:30 CET. It has been hovering around $16 since then.

Trump maintains his 14% lead over Biden on Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market.

This story first appeared on Fortune.com