Trump and Melania Coins (2:19)
On Aug. 7, President Donald Trump sat down for an interview with Jake Sherman on Punchbowl News in which he claimed that he sees more and more that people are paying Bitcoin (BTC) and they don't even know about cash.
The question that prompted the remark was how the president felt about the Democrats trying to introduce ethics restrictions to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that would limit his family's crypto businesses while he was in office.
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Why Democrats are insisting on ethics language in Clarity Act
The Clarity Act is the most important crypto legislation in the U.S. right now, which aims to split regulatory oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
However, the bill is facing a delay because Democrats have been trying to add ethics language to restrict elected officials from profiting off crypto-related businesses.
As Trump filed his financial disclosure with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, it revealed that he made at least $1.2 billion from crypto ventures such as the DeFi protocol called the World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the associated USD1 stablecoin, the TRUMP meme coin, and personal crypto holdings.
Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have repeatedly questioned Trump and his family's conflicts of interest.
When Sherman asked Trump about the ethics language in the Clarity Act, the president asked why nobody questioned the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi when she was in office. Pelosi has faced allegations of insider trading in the stock market.
Related: Treasury Secretary Bessent sees no problem with Trump's crypto earnings
Trump warns of China domination if U.S. retreats from crypto
Coming back to crypto, Trump warned that if the U.S. doesn't dominate the field, countries like China and Japan are going to take over. He said he took a pro-crypto position because of politics as a lot of people favor it. He even said that when he gained popularity for his pro-crypto stance, even Joe Biden began to embrace it.
The president also said that he doesn't mind putting it (his crypto assets) in a blind trust, and it's his kids, not him, who run these ventures. He also added that he doesn't talk to his children about these crypto businesses.
A blind trust is a type of trust where the beneficiary does not know what assets are in the trust and has no control over how they are managed. An independent trustee makes all investment decisions without consulting the beneficiary.
Blind trusts are often used to avoid conflicts of interest, especially when someone in a public or influential position wants to ensure their personal investments do not affect their decisions.
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Trump claims Bitcoin payments take pressure off dollar
The president also underscored how popular crypto is among ordinary people.
"I see more and more where people are paying with Bitcoin and they don't even know about cash anymore," Trump claimed. "That takes a lot of pressure off our dollar."
However, Trump's claim is not supported by facts. While some merchants accept Bitcoin, it's still a niche payment mode compared to cash, credit cards, etc. There is no consensus that Bitcoin meaningfully reduces pressure off the U.S. dollar.
The Federal Reserve Financial Services’ FedCash Services released a report in May as per which cash continued to remain a stable payment method despite the rise in digital options.
Households earning less than $25,000 a year and adults aged 55 and more relied more on cash than other cohorts. Rural residents tended to use cash more than their urban and suburban counterparts.
In 2026, consumers made an average of 47 payments per month. They made 16 payments with credit cards, 15 with debit cards, and six with cash, as per the report.
As per the Fed's report on the economic well-being of U.S. households in 2025, buying or holding crypto as an investment remained more common than using it for financial transactions.
Among those buying or holding crypto in 2025, 9% of the respondents bought or held it as an investment.
In contrast, only 2% of them admitted to using crypto to make a payment or buy something, the report said. Only 1% of adults used crypto to send money to friends or family.
26% of the respondents said they used crypto because the person or business receiving the money preferred crypto. Speed, privacy, low fee, and safety also remained key factors for some people. Only 7% said they used crypto because of a lack of trust in banks.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $65,110.52.
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