Thanks for your long thoughtful reply! I'll reply to yours, but I'm probably done after this. I will have said all I wanted to say by then. :)

Trump Talked Positively About BTC

Trump spoke positively probably partly because crypto folks had a lot of money that they could contribute to his campaign. Unfortunately it is not entirely the candidate with the best ideas who wins an election, one must also be nearly as well funded or better funded than your opponents.

As far as ordinary people having lost their money in crypto, that's too broad a statement IMO. There is the complete spectrum of ordinary and even rich folk who have lost all, to those who have many X gains.

If someone bought BTC on election night and held for a 2X, they could have sold at several times over the last few months when BTC was in fact up 2X. I think Trump can be given at least part of the credit for the doubling of the BTC price that we have seen. I'm glad he speaks positively about it, and IMO that has been a good thing. I hope he keeps speaking positively about it.

Note that from the Trump voters I know, most did not buy BTC. In hind sight, they now know they missed an easy 2X, but some get in now with ETFs since it is better understood for them, which is fine. Who knows what will happen in the future - no one. But Trump talking BTC up rather than down adds some non-zero amount to the probability that the price will do well.

BTC Laws and Regulations

I was talking about clarity for exchanges and devs and investors at tax time, for example, so they know what things they have to do to be in compliance.

Regarding transparency of account balances and transaction histories, again IMO you're making too broad of a statement to say most folks are in crypto to hide things, and that if crypto was transparent it would be worthless. But neither of us has conducted a survey of everyone who holds crypto so who really knows! But some crypto are far less transparent than others, so people have choices. I don't think Trump has done anything to make any particular crypto more transparent.

Trump's Wealth

The article I sourced said that

It’s worth noting that Donald Trump is estimated by Forbes to be worth $7.1 billion, meaning that his share of these crypto profits could represent a sizable chunk of his net worth.

To me, this implies that a good percentage of his capital and net worth is in crypto, and I would assume he did not have these crypto profits 10 years ago, for example, so maybe they don't really need BTC and other cryptos but I bet they are glad they have what they have now! Rich folks may have all the money they need, but IMO that doesn't seem to stop many of them from wanting even more. :) So he started World Liberty Financial recently and may be saying and doing things that are good for him, his companies, his family, and all crypto holders. If people think this is the case, they may buy some crypto which may raise the price.

Why Trump Did Not Sell US BTC

Maybe he is waiting for a higher price; no one can know that since he didn't say anything like that. Or at least I didn't hear it.

I have heard that the gov could revalue the Gold it has, and use that to write a huge check from one part of the gov to another, in order to cancel some part of the huge US debt. I'm not knowledgeable enough about this or how it might work to really have an opinion on it. But if they did that with the Gold they own, perhaps they could do it with the BTC they own.

Finally, if other countries see the US holding BTC, they may also decide to hold BTC. The more that is held long term and not sold, the lower the available supply. With the same or rising demand, that should theoretically raise the BTC price.

Trust

I would say, trust but verify. Any time one makes a decision, there is some probability that it will be "good" and a corresponding probability that it turns out "bad". In a simple case, like at a poker game, every time you decide to see, raise or drop, you are making a decision based on the probabilities you have learned from knowing the cards and the people at the table.

Life is like that. We all have decisions to make, and we try to asses the possible outcomes, and choose what we think will happen based on what facts we can determine. Part of the "verify" process is computing these probabilities based on whatever past and current data you can obtain about as many aspects of the decision as possible. Then after the decision, should it be something you can alter as time goes by, you'll verify the events unfolding and make a change if they don't match your expectations.

If you are involved with a person, or an organization, or a political party, or a religion - you may have a feeling of trust. Sometimes from past interactions but also often from things your parents taught you before you could think on your own. As an adult, it might be good to re-evaluate things you trust and things that you believe. Get more data. Do your own research. Don't just look for confirming facts, be brave and study the other points of view that make you uncomfortable to even think about. Do it because you're an adult now. Act like one and do Your Own research. Don't take anyone else's opinion as fact. Look at issues from all sides possible and then do something and see how it goes. Change it up if it isn't working. But keep moving forward, living and learning and loving.

Thanks Again for the Interaction!