NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump made history in a New York City bar Wednesday, becoming the first US president to ever use Bitcoin to complete a transaction.
Trump, 78, used the cryptocurrency to pay for burgers and beers he bought for patrons of PubKey, a Manhattan bar and restaurant famous for accepting Bitcoin, ahead of a Long Island campaign rally.
“I just made the first transaction in Bitcoin,” the ex-prez declared to roars of approval from the crypto loving crowd.
Trump, aided by a PubKey employee, appeared to use a cellphone and a tablet belonging to the bar to complete the transaction.
He said the payment was “very easy.”
“Make Bitcoin great again,” a bar patron cheered as Trump settled up his tab.
Pubkey called the moment “one of the most historic transactions in #bitcoin history,” in a social media post.
The price of Bitcoin has increased by more than 500% over the last five years. The current price for 1 Bitcoin is $61,248.50.
Trump’s photo-op at the Bitcoin bar comes the same week he talked up cryptocurrencies during the unveiling of World Liberty Financial, a new crypto venture founded by businessmen Steve Witkoff and the former president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump.
The Republican nominee for president explained during the X Spaces event touting World Liberty Financial that his sons, including 18-year-old Barron Trump, encouraged him to embrace cryptocurrencies.
“He talks about his wallet — He’s got four wallets or something,” Trump said of Barron.
“And I’m saying, ‘What is a wallet? Explain this to me.’”
In July, Trump pledged to make the US “the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world” if he’s elected to a second White House term.
“If Bitcoin is going to the Moon — as we say — it’s going to the Moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way,” he told the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
Trump also promised to end what he called President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ “war on crypto” — and to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who’s leading a regulatory crackdown on digital currency.
The Trump campaign began accepting donations in crypto in May, the same month the former president declared himself to be a “crypto candidate.”
