The relationship between key figures in the decentralized technology sphere—including staunch Bitcoin advocates and ideological Cypherpunks—and the administration of former President Donald Trump underwent a noticeable and profound ideological fracture following the 2020 fatal shooting in Minneapolis and the subsequent national unrest. While some early crypto proponents were initially drawn to Trump’s anti-establishment posture, the government’s response to the ensuing civil demonstrations ultimately drove a wedge based on fundamental principles of privacy and anti-centralization.
For the Cypherpunk community, whose core mission revolves around defending individual liberty through cryptography against state surveillance and centralized control, the federal response to the protests was viewed not as maintaining order, but as an authoritarian creep. Actions such as the widespread deployment of federal agents, increased calls for digital surveillance of protesters, and the perceived militarization of domestic law enforcement directly contradicted the movement’s foundational tenets.
Prominent voices within the Bitcoin sphere, who champion decentralized currency as a necessary firewall against the potential weaponization of traditional banking systems, saw the government’s heavy-handed approach as validation for their cause. The events reinforced the belief that technological solutions—non-confiscatable assets and private communications—are the only reliable guarantors of personal freedom, regardless of the political party in power. The disillusionment cemented a shift within the movement, moving its focus away from electoral politics and back toward the rigorous development of robust, permissionless infrastructure designed specifically to resist state overreach and control.
Source: Bitcoin Backers, Cypherpunks Sour on Trump Following Fatal Minneapolis Shooting
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