The former US president affirmed that if he were to return to the White House, he would ensure that the federal government never sold out of its Bitcoin holdings.
Donald Trump gives a keynote speech during the Bitcoin Conference 2024 in Nashville on July 27. Photo: Brett Carlsen/Bloomberg.
“For a long time, the government has violated the basic rule that every Bitcoin investor knows by heart: Never sell your Bitcoin,” Trump said at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, the largest Bitcoin conference of the year.
This afternoon, I’m going to outline a plan to make sure the U.S. will be the crypto capital of the planet, the world’s Bitcoin superpower,” Trump added.
Trump “turned the wheel”, supported Bitcoin
Throughout his speech, the former president repeatedly emphasized the contrast between the Republican Party’s increasing support for cryptocurrencies and the tough regulation that is characteristic of the Biden administration.
Trump said that the Biden-Harris administration’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin was wrong and bad for the United States. “If they win this election, you will leave. They will be vicious. They will be ruthless. They’re going to do things that you can’t believe,” Trump said at the Bitcoin Conference.
Trump went on to list a series of promises for the crypto market as a dream, ending the “crusade against crypto” by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump also announced that he would enact a crypto-friendly policy, fire Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, and create a “national strategic Bitcoin reserve.” This is all part of his campaign promise in the race back to the White House, to encourage the development of the cryptocurrency industry in the US.
Donald Trump wants to turn the US into the world’s Bitcoin superpower. Photo: Bitcoin News.
“On my first day as president, I’m going to fire Gary Gensler,” Trump said. However, CNBC said the president does not have the power to fire appointed commissioners. Even if Trump appoints a new chairman of the SEC, Gensler will remain a commissioner of the independent body.
The former US President also pledged to establish a “presidential advisory council on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies”. “The rules will be written by crypto lovers, not those who subvert them,” he said.
“If cryptocurrency shapes the future of humanity, I want it to be mined, minted and produced in the United States,” Trump said at the Bitcoin conference.
However, Trump’s attitude towards Bitcoin has “turned 180 degrees” compared to before, CNN said.
When he was president, Trump declared Bitcoin “not money” and criticized it for being “very volatile and air-based.” He warned that crypto assets have helped facilitate illegal underground markets.
“We only have one real currency in the U.S. and it’s stronger than ever. It’s called USD!”, Trump wrote on Twitter in 2019.
“Bitcoin looks like a scam. I don’t like it because it is another currency that is competing with the USD. I want the dollar to be the currency of the world,” Trump continued to emphasize in an interview with Fox in 2021.
Since Trump first spoke out against Bitcoin in 2019, this volatile sector has continuously faced a series of turbulence. The most notable is the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March for carrying out a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme through his subsidiaries.
Bitcoin becomes a strategy to return to the White House
But five years later, the Republican presidential candidate praised the digital currency again at the largest Bitcoin conference of the year in Nashville. “Bitcoin symbolizes freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government coercion and control,” Trump said in his speech.
CNN said that during the entire election campaign, Mr. Trump’s team failed to clarify the reason that caused the former president to make a 180-degree turn on Bitcoin. Trump has also not addressed one of the biggest criticisms of digital currencies, which is the lack of practical application, in addition to being a highly speculative investment.
Donald Trump on the Bitcoin 2024 stage in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Brady Dale/Axios.
Trump’s campaign spokesman, Brian Hughes, told CNN: “The leaders in the crypto market and in the tech sector are under attack.” As a result, the former US president “is ready to encourage the US government to participate in the leadership of this and other emerging technologies”.
Speaking at the Bitcoin conference, South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott argued that the former president understands people’s concerns about financial freedom. This is something that is always repeated in the crypto player community.
“We want everyone, whether they love USD or digital assets, to be responsible for making their decisions,” Scott said.
Indeed, Trump’s public support for cryptocurrencies has worked. Crypto billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss each pledged to donate $1 million worth of Bitcoin to Trump’s campaign. The Federal Election Commission has allowed political commissions to receive Bitcoin as donations since 2014. In it, the value of bitcoin is determined by the price at the time the donation is received.
Cryptocurrencies were also a topic of discussion during a recent massive fundraiser in Silicon Valley. There, Trump’s deputy, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, participated in the fundraiser.
Billionaire tech entrepreneur David Sacks also held a fundraiser at his home. “One of the things we heard a lot at that dinner was the difficulty that many crypto players faced under the Biden administration,” Sack said.
“It’s time for the ‘crypto army’ to send a message to Washington. Attacking us is political suicide,” Tyler Winklevoss wrote in a lengthy social media post in support of Trump.