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Ex-Trump Advisor Steve Bannon Is Making a Cryptocurrency

Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to President Donald Trump, confirmed Wednesday that he is working on a cryptocurrency of his own.

Bannon

Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to U.S. President Donald Trump, confirmed that he wants to launch a cryptocurrency of his own.

Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, the Breitbart co-founder said "they're the future," adding that "we're working on some tokens now, utility tokens, potentially, for the populist movement on a worldwide basis."

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Bannon first hinted at the idea in June, though at the time he was hesitant about revealing too many details of his cryptocurrency plans, according to the New York Times.

He did contemplate naming his token the "deplorables coin" at the time, referencing a term used by former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to describe Trump's supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign.

On Wednesday, Bannon spoke about the cryptocurrency space more broadly as well, saying "I think these cryptocurrencies have a huge aspect in the future. Obviously, there's problems in the markets, problems about what it's used for."

That being said, he said most ICOs have been disasters. As such, Bannon insisted the product he and his team are currently working on has to have "quality."

Bannon also commented on a few other cryptocurrencies in the markets already, saying, "I like bitcoin. I own bitcoin," but saying he does not own any ether.

Steve Bannon image via Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Christine Kim

Christine is a research analyst for CoinDesk. She focusses on producing data-driven insights about the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Prior to her role as a research analyst, Christine was a tech reporter for CoinDesk mainly covering developments on the ethereum blockchain. Cryptocurrency holdings: None.

Christine Kim