10 months removed from the job of chief strategist to President Trump, Stephen K. Bannon is now betting that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can disrupt banking the way Mr. Trump disrupted American politics.
Bannon hasn’t revealed very much about his cryptocurrency plans — since he is worried that the controversy that comes with his name could have a bad impact on new projects.
He has had private meetings with cryptocurrency investors and hedge funds where he has discussed working on so-called initial coin offerings through his investment business, Bannon & Company. On his first interview on the topic, he said he had a “good stake” in Bitcoin.
The work that Mr. Bannon is doing in the virtual currency realm is still in its early stages. Although, he has expressed an interest in helping entrepreneurs and even countries looking to create their own cryptocurrencies — generally outside the United States.
It is not a shocking place for Mr. Bannon’s re-emergence. Cryptocurrencies have many of the characteristics that drew him into Tea Party politics: They break old rules, they exist on the periphery, and they pose a challenge to the powerful figures and institutions that have long called the shots.
“It’s disruptive populism,” Mr. Bannon said in the interview, at his Capitol Hill townhouse in Washington. “It takes control back from central authorities. It’s revolutionary.”
