The currency of Trump's techno-authoritarian populism

Abstract

The speed at which the cryptocurrency sector has become entangled with the new Trump administration is astonishing. As journalists have pointed out, the degree of conflict of interest(s) - if not self-evident graft - in the Trump family's crypto dealings is unprecedented in the U.S. This commentary explores the ways Trump and his family lean into a mixture of techno-libertarian and authoritarian-populist rhetoric, along with a celebration of financial innovation, to mask what appears to be an effort to enrich their family and friends, which now includes a network of Silicon Valley investors