Trump's recent announcement of national security strategy led many to believe he would once again mention cryptocurrency, after all, he often claims to be the 'cryptocurrency president.' However, this time, the national security document completely omitted any mention of blockchain and only briefly mentioned 'financial innovation.' Why is that?
After looking into the opinions of blockchain experts, the reason seems quite simple: once Bitcoin is included in the national security strategy, its status would instantly be elevated to that of a military asset.
This would mean military-level regulation, national security reviews, and cross-border restrictions, effectively suffocating the original free market. No matter how much Trump supports Bitcoin, he wouldn’t want to turn it into a property of the Pentagon. So, it's better not to mention it, leaving it within the jurisdiction of the Treasury and Wall Street for easier management.
Furthermore, the focus of the national security strategy was originally placed on major projects that determine national power, such as AI, quantum technology, and biotechnology. For the United States, these areas are more critical than cryptocurrency in terms of technological warfare. Even if the CIA believes that cryptocurrency is important for competition with China, that alone wouldn’t elevate it to a strategic core in the national security document. Priorities are arranged in this manner.
There is another very practical background; Trump's campaign rhetoric and the highly institutionalized nature of national security documents operate on completely different logics. He can often say, 'I want to make American computing power dominate the world,' but writing it into a national security document is a different matter. Once it’s written down, it’s no longer just a slogan; it involves serious action and military intervention.
This time, the market is actually not afraid that Bitcoin wasn’t mentioned, but rather that he stated in the document that NATO military spending would rise to 5% of GDP. This implies that the fiscal pressure and inflation risks for the United States would increase, and upon hearing such signals, funds would naturally rush out of liquid assets, leading to a sell-off of Bitcoin.
In summary, Trump is not against cryptocurrency, but he does not want to militarize Bitcoin at the national security level, as that would worsen the situation for the market. By remaining silent now, Bitcoin is kept within the financial market rather than the military system.
However, for the market, investors only see signals regarding military spending and inflation, which makes them anxious, leading to a natural price correction.
