“[America will become] the crypto capital of the planet and bitcoin superpower of the world,” Donald Trump had promised at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville in July last year. And if that’s not all, the then-presidential nominee also unveiled an ambitious plan to establish “a permanent national asset to benefit all Americans,” replacing the traditional reliance on the fiat money system adopted after the Gold Standard was abandoned in 1971. But looks like his own friend is leading the march against the movement…

Well, who doesn’t know of the camaraderie between Trump and his foe-turned-friend and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. From refusing to interview Trump back in 2022, to inviting the future President to his podcast—garnering 40 million views on YouTube in just three days—the two have come a long way. In September last year, the podcaster even went on to say, “He actually was the president for four years and the economy really did well and he really did try to cut some of the bullsh*t down that’s going on in this country.” But that doesn’t mean Rogan is even considering any arguments supporting bitcoins and cryptocurrency.

On Episode #2249 of the Joe Rogan podcast aired December 30 last year, the 57-year-old sat down with comedians Yannis Pappas and Chris Distefano, where the conversation eventually steered toward cryptocurrency. The trio began watching a video where a teenager started a coin and indulged in “pumping and dumping”—a manipulative trading strategy where the price of a coin is artificially inflated by “buying large quantities quickly (the “pump”), and then rapidly selling their holdings at the inflated price, causing the price to crash drastically (the “dump”), leaving other investors who bought at the peak with significant losses”. 

“This kid made like 50 grand,” Pappas opined, to which Rogan couldn’t help but laugh. The kid soon started clapping and freaking out as the coin’s price shot up, unaware of one important aspect. “He has no idea he’s committed a crime,” Distefano chimed in, before asking his fellow comedian why Tom Brady and Larry David were sued over merely advertising crypto.

For context: In 2022, the retired NFL star and the 77-year-old actor/comedian were sued for “deceptively encouraging consumers to invest in the company [FTX]”. “Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilizing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment — like these Defendants — to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest,” the lawsuit filed against FTX and its ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried mentioned.

Having said that, as Distefano said he was confused why the stars were sued just for doing a commercial, Rogan responded, “Someone lost a bunch of money and they said, ‘Larry David, I trusted you’.” He also mentioned an interesting anecdote, though. “That’s the reason why I’ve never promoted any of those. I’ve had offers to promote them…I’m not interested. Like Nuh-uh. I don’t even understand it. If I don’t understand what you’re selling…NFTs? What does that mean? ‘It’s a non-fungible token’. WE’RE DONE. I don’t know what you’re saying. I’m not doing this…It’s weird that anybody would invest actual real money in it.”

The podcaster also shared his reservations about abandoning the current monetary system for a $3.64 trillion cryptocurrency market. He remarked, “It is weird that we used to be on a gold standard, and then now we’re just on hard drives, and we just sort of accept it. And then the government, like when they want to send money to Ukraine—forget about the fact that we’re trillions of dollars in debt—they can just come up with $179 billion and ship it over to some country. ‘Yay, go have a good time’.”

Notably, when Trump emerged victorious as the 47th President of the United States in November last year, his bold vision surrounding crypto began to take shape. The financial markets responded dramatically—gold prices dropped significantly, while Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, skyrocketed by nearly 30%, reaching an astonishing all-time high of $107,000. This surge fueled speculation that the global economy might soon transition from the fiat system to digital currencies.

But, Joe Rogan still raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of crypto as a legal tender and questioned “corruption” in digital currencies, highlighting their vulnerabilities with a mix of humor and skepticism. He pointedly asked, “Where’s the money going? There’s no way in the world that it’s 100% efficient,” questioning the ease of misusing funds in a system currently lacking transparency. For years, speculation has surrounded the possibility of Bitcoin replacing the traditional monetary system as a global reserve asset.

However, with Donald Trump back in the spotlight, the future of Bitcoin’s role in the financial world remains unclear. While the outcome is yet to be seen, one thing is evident—Joe Rogan, the influential host of a multi-million-dollar podcast, remains unconvinced by Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

And what better example than the controversial ‘Hawk Tuah’ scandal…

Joe Rogan’s take on ‘Hawk Tuah’ alleged Crypto scam

If you want to highlight just how much power, social media can hold, look no further than the example of Hailey Welch, also known as ‘Hawk Tuah.’ From obscurity to social media stardom, she became an overnight sensation after a random street interview. At 22, Hailey went on to launch a podcast, but her rise ultimately led her to be associated with a “pump and dump” crypto scam. Just last month, Hailey Welch introduced her own meme coin, $HAWK, which briefly reached a valuation of $500 million. However, as is often the case with such ventures, it quickly crashed to $60 million in just 20 minutes.

Since then, her name has become synonymous with the “pump and dump” scam. Joe Rogan, who doesn’t hold back his opinions on Bitcoin and crypto, voiced his disbelief at how easily people were taken in by the $HAWK coin. In the same podcast, the podcaster pointed out, “One guy invested a million dollars. Imagine like, ‘The Hawk Tuah girl? Yeah, that’s a sound investment [chuckles].’ What are the rules? Is it unethical but legal? Can you even have a meme coin?”

However, the ‘Hawk Tuah’ scandal doesn’t end there. The crypto coin was reportedly illegally sold and promoted and was alleged not even a registered security. Subsequently, a lawsuit has been filed against Tuah The Moon Foundation, overHere Ltd and founder Clinton So, and influencer Alex Larson Schulz, known as “Doc Hollywood”, by investors.

What do you think of Joe Rogan’s perspective? Do you believe Bitcoin could ever replace the traditional financial system, which is a system largely based on debt? Of course, Bitcoin has already faced criticism for its potential vulnerabilities, including the risk of cyber attacks, but it’s still an evolving technology in finance that could reshape whole economies. Just look at El Salvadore. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.