Business
Trump’s big new Bitcoin push alienates his gold-bar-hoarding base
Published
12 months agoon
By
Ekwutos Blog
Former President Donald Trump’s posts on Truth Social—the free speech social media platform he launched two years ago—generally receive a warm reception.
But a late-night missive promoting Bitcoin on Tuesday seems to have alienated his audience.
“VOTE FOR TRUMP! Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a CBDC [Central Bank Digital Currency],” Trump wrote shortly before midnight.
“Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left,” he continued. “We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!! It will help us be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!”
Trump then linked to a Bitcoin Magazine op-ed penned by Brian Morgenstern, a former staffer in the the Trump administration and current head of public policy for Riot Platforms, a large Bitcoin mining company.
The article called Trump the “Best choice for Bitcoin.”
The Federal Reserve has been considering using a CBDC, noting on its website that it could provide households and businesses with a “convenient, electronic form of central bank money, with the safety and liquidity that would entail” and support faster payments.
Many conservatives have pushed back on a potential CBDC due to concerns about an expansion of power for the Fed and conspiratorial, apocalyptic fears.
“Anti-CBDC legislation is necessary to safeguard Americans’ financial privacy in the face of potential surveillance, control and political intimidation,” Ryan Walker, executive vice president of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s political arm, told Politico in a statement earlier this year.
Morgenstern’s piece calls Trump’s support of Bitcoin a key effort of “decentralization” which could, outside of legislation, also thwart a CBDC
But on Truth Social, pushing back against CBDC does not go far enough.
While plenty of Trump’s base is Bitcoin-hyping hustlers, a great deal fear any digital currency as a government intrusion.
Many have accused the government of wanting to eliminate cash entirely, to curtail freedom and track individual purchases.
“Gold standard… not Bitcoin,” replied one self-described Christian conservative user.
“CASH IS KING!” replied someone else, posting an image calling for a transition back to a gold-backed currency. “Make money valuable again,” the image’s text overlay reads.
Gold bars have been a long-time fixation on the right, and a number of right-wing influencers promote gold on their podcasts and streams, running counter to the president’s new fondness for Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin is a fantasy, no real wealth, gambling with no odds,” commented someone else.
One Trump supporter offered stronger choice words in response to Trump’s post.
“FUCK bitcoin! It is not US currency, and should never, ever be allowed for monetary exchange,” the user wrote. “I am truly disappointed that you, of all people would support this sham.”
But Trump has embraced cryptocurrency, billing himself as a “crypto president” during a fundraiser in San Francisco last week and rebuking Biden’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation.
“I AM VERY POSITIVE AND OPEN MINDED TO CRYPTOCURRENCY COMPANIES, AND ALL THINGS RELATED TO THIS NEW AND BURGEONING INDUSTRY,” he wrote on Truth Social in late May.
Trump added that the U.S. should be the leader in cryptocurrency but that Biden “WANTS IT TO DIE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH.”
That post came less than one week after his campaign announced it would accept cryptocurrency donations to “build a crypto army moving the campaign to victory on November 5th!”
Trump’s positive stance on cryptocurrency marks a major shift from comments he made while in office.
“Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam,” Trump said in 2021. “I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.”
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Nigerian petrol marketers reduce fuel pump price for patronage
Published
3 days agoon
June 7, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Nigerian petroleum products marketers have reduced their premium motor spirit pump price downwards to attract patronage.
Ekwutosblog observed on Friday that filling station owners in Abuja reviewed their fuel price downwards by at least N10 per litre to compete favourably in the country’s downstream oil and gas sector.
Major oil marketers such as Ranoil, Shafa, and AA Rano filling stations in the nation’s capital, Abuja, now sell petrol at N900 per litre, down from N910.
The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, Chinedu Ukadike, described the development as a benefit of the liberalisation of the oil and gas sector.
According to him, the era where the government determines the price of PMS is gone; rather, it is the forces of demand and supply.
“Price modulation is no longer done by the government but by demand and supply,” he said.
Ekwutosblog earlier reported that Ukadike said PMS price may nosedive down to N800 per litre.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlets and Dangote Refinery partners such as MRS, AP Ardova, Optima, and Bovas are currently dispensing fuel at between N875 to N895 per litre in Lagos and Abuja.
According to market players in the oil and gas sector, Dangote Refinery and NNPCL may announce another petrol price reduction after the Eid-Al-Adha celebration to remain competitive.
Business
$300 Helicopter Levy On Oil Coys May Hike Petrol, Diesel Prices …Stakeholders Question Purpose Of $300 Per Landing Charge
Published
7 days agoon
June 3, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
LAGOS – There are indications that the prices of oil products may once again skyrocket in Nigeria, following the imposition of $300 helicopter landing levy on oil companies operating in the rigs by the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
Also, experts in the Nigerian aviation industry have questioned the choice of NAEBI Dynamic Concepts as the contractor for the collection of the $300 helicopter levy from oil companies, wondering if its selection was passed by the National Assembly or received the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
They also declared that only the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has the right to approve any new charges or levies for operators in the industry and called on the ministry to rescind its decision.
But Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has said that the levy was an additional means of generating revenue by the Federal Government.
Besides, there are indications that the affected oil companies may not have been contacted about the directive two weeks after it was issued.
Business
Naira depreciates against dollar at black market
Published
1 week agoon
May 31, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Nigeria’s currency, the naira, recorded depreciation against the dollar at the parallel foreign exchange market to end the week on a negative note.
Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, Abubakar Alhasan, confirmed to Ekwutosblog that the naira dropped to N1,628 per dollar on Friday from N1,623 traded on Thursday.
“We buy at N1,624 per dollar and sell between N1,628 and N1,630 per dollar due to a surge in demand,” he told Ekwutosblog on Friday.
This means that the naira dropped by N5 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis at the parallel foreign exchange market.
At the black market, this is the fourth consecutive depreciation since Monday, 26th 2025.
Meanwhile, the naira remained flat at the official foreign exchange market on Friday at N1,586.15, the same rate recorded the previous day.
Ekwutosblog reports that in the week under review, the naira recorded more depreciation than appreciation across foreign exchange markets. This showed that the naira weakened by N13 and N5.17 against the dollar at parallel and official foreign exchange markets, respectively, on a week-on-week basis.
The African Development Bank, in its 2025 economic outlook, forecast that the naira and other currencies on the continent would slip by 6 percent in 2025.

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