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Bitcoin will be mined, minted, made in US, Trump woos crypto community

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By Francesca Hangeior.

 

Donald Trump, once a cryptocurrency sceptic, has vowed to be a “pro-bitcoin president” if elected in November.

The Republican nominee is seeking support from an industry frustrated by US regulations.

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“The Biden-Harris administration’s repression of crypto and bitcoin is wrong, and it’s very bad for our country,” Trump said to cheers at a conference in Tennessee.

The ex-president likened cryptocurrencies to the growth of the “steel industry of 100 years ago”, and said, “Bitcoin stands for freedom, sovereignty and independence from government coercion and control.”

Trump said if he was in the White House, he would not allow the US government to sell its bitcoin holdings.

“This will serve in effect as the core of the strategic national bitcoin stockpile,” Trump said.

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The proposal was more limited than one offered the day before by longshot third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said he would seek to build a stockpile of 4 million bitcoins.

“If we don’t embrace crypto and bitcoin technology, China will, other countries will, they’ll dominate, and we cannot let China dominate,” Trump said Saturday.

“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA.”

Acknowledging the price of electricity as a key factor in where cryptocurrency mining operations are located, Trump vowed to make US energy the cheapest “of any nation on Earth” by increasing fossil fuel production and nuclear energy.

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“We’ll be doing it in an environmentally friendly way, but we will be creating so much electricity that you’ll be saying, ‘please, please, Mr President, we don’t want any more electricity.’”

He said on his first day in office, he would fire Gary Gensler, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a frequent target of cryptocurrency industry outrage over his cautiously slow approach to implementing regulations.

The crowd roared with approval at the proposal, prompting Trump to joke: “I didn’t know he was that unpopular.”

“Let me say it again. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler!” he said, with the crowd erupting again.

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He also targeted Vice President Kamala Harris, who is set to replace Biden atop the Democratic ticket following the 81-year-old president’s shock exit from the campaign.

“We have to fight and we have to win, and I pledge to the bitcoin community that the day I take the oath of office, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris’s anti-crypto crusade will be over, it will end, it’ll be done,” Trump told the crowd.

“You’re going to be very happy with me.”

The 100-day sprint to the US election began Sunday, the final act of a campaign transformed by an assassination attempt and the stunning exit of President Joe Biden.

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After weeks of infighting and despondency over Biden’s candidacy, Democrats have consolidated behind Vice President Kamala Harris, radically reshaping the race to November 5 which was fast becoming Republican nominee Donald Trump’s to lose.

Harris’s candidacy has clearly reinvigorated her party’s campaign, which said Sunday it had raised $200 million – mostly from first-time donors – since Biden dropped out and endorsed his vice president a week ago.

A new Wall Street Journal poll showed Harris had closed Biden’s six-point deficit with Trump to just two points – well within the margin of error – with boosted support from Black, Latino and young voters.

But Republican pollster David Lee, who conducted the Journal survey, cautioned Democrats not to get carried away by the race tightening.

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“Donald Trump is in a far better position in this election when compared to a similar time in the 2020 election,” Lee said.

If the race is at a dead heat nationally, the advantage still lies with Trump given the mathematics of the Electoral College system for electing the president.

Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton came despite losing the nationwide popular vote by nearly three million ballots.

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Foreign

Israel’s Netanyahu Replaces Defence Minister Over Trust Issues

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over a breakdown in trust during the Gaza war against Hamas, his office said.

The two have frequently clashed over Israel’s retaliatory military offensive against Hamas following the Palestinian militant group’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust between the prime minister and the defence minister is required,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.

“Although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and very productive work, over the past few months that trust has eroded,” he added of his Likud party colleague.

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Netanyahu said he had appointed Foreign Minister Israel Katz as the new defence minister, saying he had “already proven his abilities and his contribution to national security”.

Gallant responded to his sacking by posting on social media that “the security of the state of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life”.

Netanyahu said he had made attempts to bridge the differences between him and Gallant.

“But they only grew wider. These divisions even reached public knowledge in an unusual manner and, worse, became known to our enemies, who took pleasure in them and derived substantial benefit from them,” he said.

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“The growing breach of trust between the Defence Minister and me has become public, preventing the normal continuation of our campaign management,” Netanyahu said.

“In light of this, I have decided to end the Defence Minister’s tenure. I have chosen to appoint Minister Israel Katz as his replacement.”

Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 43,391 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry, figures considered reliable by the UN.

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US election: Trump reveals only condition that’ll make him accept defeat

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Former US President and Republican candidate, Donald Trump said he would be prepared to concede defeat after Tuesday’s vote if the election was fair.

Trump stated this even as he once again raised concerns about the use of electronic voting machines.

“If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I would be the first one to acknowledge it. So far I think it’s been fair,” he said.
He reiterated his previous criticism of electronic voting machines, suggesting they were less secure than paper ballots and would delay the outcome being known.

“They spend all this money on machines. If they would use paper ballots, voter ID, proof of citizenship, and one-day voting, it would all be over by 10 o’clock in the evening. It’s crazy.

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“Do you know that paper is more sophisticated now than computers? If it’s watermarked paper you cannot. It’s unbelievable what happens with it. There’s nothing you can do to cheat,” he added.

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US Election: Over 77 Million Voters Have Cast Ballots

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Over 77 million ballots have been cast for the November 5 general election in the United States of America.

Fox News reports that early in-person and mail-in ballots have begun pouring in across the country, with the tally in each state revealing mounting voter enthusiasm.

States in the US have long allowed some citizens to vote early, such as members of the military and people with illnesses unable to get to the polls.

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 presidential election, many states also expanded voting to in-person and mail-in ballots.

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According to the report, recent polling suggests a razor-thin margin in the race between former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

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