A poorly rendered fake video of Donald Trump revealing the Bitcoin whitepaper in the Oval Office, replacing the Declaration of Independence with Satoshi Nakamoto’s manifesto, has gone viral across social media platforms this week.

In the doctored clip, Trump theatrically pulls back drapes to unveil a framed copy of Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System as Fox News host Laura Ingraham looks on.

“You think Joe Biden would do this? I don’t think so,” Trump says, grinning. “…Do you think he even knows what it is?”

Meta and community notes on X have since flagged the video as manipulated. The footage was spliced from a recent Fox News segment in which Trump showcased a copy of the Declaration of Independence he’d moved into the Oval Office.

Fake? Yes. But the underlying message that Trump is embracing crypto like no president before him is increasingly grounded in reality.

Since returning to office, Trump has aggressively followed through on a promise to turn the U.S. into “the crypto capital of the world.” 

What began as a campaign sideshow complete with Trump-branded NFTs and family-backed token launches has morphed into a sweeping policy pivot on digital assets.

Within weeks of inauguration, Trump signed an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve, setting the tone for a new approach to crypto from the U.S. government.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has since dismissed enforcement actions against Kraken, ConsenSys, Immutable, and Crypto.com, walking back a series of high-profile cases. Trump Media has also signed a partnership with Crypto.com.

On Capitol Hill, momentum is accelerating. The Senate voted 70-28 on Wednesday to overturn a Biden-era IRS rule that would have required decentralized finance platforms to collect and report user tax data. 

Critics had called the existing measure “fundamentally unworkable,” citing the code-based, pseudonymous nature of DeFi protocols.

Republican lawmakers are now racing to advance sweeping legislation to regulate stablecoins and digital asset markets.

At this week’s Digital Chamber Blockchain Summit in Washington, House and Senate leaders signaled imminent movement on both the FIT21 market structure bill, which will bring in clearer regulations for crypto assets, and a new stablecoin framework.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair