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Trump Teases Launch of His Own Cryptocurrency Platform

The platform is called 'The Defiant Ones,' a play on the term decentralized finance. It appears to be focused on cutting out middle-men banks from money transactions.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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As he tries to win back the White House, Donald Trump is also teasing the arrival of his cryptocurrency platform. 

On Truth Social, Trump posted about the mysterious platform, which is called “The Defiant Ones,” an apparent play on the cryptocurrency-related term DeFi or Decentralized Finance. 

Like DeFi, Trump suggests the goal of his cryptocurrency platform is to cut out the middle-men banking institutions from financial transactions. “For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites. It's time we take a stand—together,” he said.

Trump also linked to a Telegram channel dedicated to The Defiant Ones, which calls itself the Official Trump DeFi Channel. “Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing some important updates and announcements right here in this channel,” the Telegram channel added.

Although details are thin, Trump has become bullish on cryptocurrency. Last month, he spoke at a Bitcoin conference, saying he’ll make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” if he wins the presidential election in November.

“We will have regulations, but from now on, the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” Trump said. 

The support is a bit surprising since Trump previously said Bitcoin seemed like a scam. “I don't like it because it's another currency competing against the dollar,” he told Fox Business in 2021. 

However, Trump has since launched his own NFT collection. According to CBS News, Trump made $7.2 million from that deal while also pulling in over $1 million in Ethereum. In addition, Trump accepts cryptocurrency donations to his campaign.

In his speech at last month's Bitcoin conference, Trump said he expects cryptocurrency to one day exceed the market cap of gold. "If we don't embrace Bitcoin and crypto technology, China will, other countries will. They'll dominate and we cannot let China dominate," he said.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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