Former President Donald Trump vowed Saturday that he would turn the United States into a “bitcoin superpower" if returned to the White House, wielding much of the same rhetoric of persecution that he has applied to himself and his supporters to appeal to cryptocurrency enthusiasts who want to see less regulation.
“Sadly, we see the attacks on crypto,” Trump told a gathering of cryptocurrency fans in Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s a part of a much larger pattern that’s being carried out by the same left-wing fascists to weaponize government against any threat to their power. They’ve done it to me.”
He added that, if he were elected, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ anticrypto crusade will be over” and that “the moment I’m sworn in, the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry.”
Former President Donald Trump boards his plane in West Palm Beach, Fla., traveling to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, July, 27, 2024 Doug Mills/The New York Times
Trump has been competing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, for the support of cryptocurrency holders, and his remarks represented one of his most direct pitches yet.
Three large crypto firms have invested about $150 million to elect pro-crypto candidates in congressional races. In his speech, Trump promoted himself as “the first major party nominee in American history to accept donations in bitcoin and crypto,” adding that his campaign has raised $25 million from cryptocurrency donations in the last two months.
The former president offered promises of sweeping deregulation and the establishment of a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile.”
An attendee shows off a commemorative ‘trump coin’ as Former President Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, July, 27, 2024 Doug Mills/The New York Times
“I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world,” Trump said to raucous applause, adding that “America will once again be a nation that protects property rights, privacy, freedom of transaction, freedom of association and freedom of speech.”
Trump also said he would end efforts by the U.S. government to create a central bank digital currency, an initiative that cryptocurrency enthusiasts have long been critical of, and that he would establish a “bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council” to design new regulations “written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry.”
What exactly those new crypto-friendly regulations would look like was unclear, but Trump has attacked the Biden administration over moves that many in the industry have made plain they do not like. In response to concerns about increased risk and volatility in the crypto market, the Biden administration has taken steps toward regulating cryptocurrencies, while the Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, has cracked down with fines and lawsuits after a prominent exchange suddenly collapsed and its founder was convicted of sweeping fraud charges.
Trump vowed in his speech to fire Gensler upon taking office, a promise that was met with energetic cheers.
“I didn’t know he was that unpopular,” Trump said after the crowd’s enthusiastic response. “Let me say it again: On Day 1, I will fire Gary Gensler.”
He also equated law enforcement seizing bitcoin funds during criminal investigations to fascism and revived his “Pocahontas” insult for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who has pushed for tighter regulations for banking and other industries, including cryptocurrencies.
Attacking Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, Trump said she was “against crypto” and urged attendees to “get out and vote.”
“It should be no surprise that these same totalitarians are hell bent on crushing crypto,” Trump said of Biden and Harris, adding “That’s where this country is going. It’s a fascist regime.”
Trump headed a large Republican delegation to the Bitcoin Conference. Four senators and three Senate candidates, all Republicans, spoke at the conference, as well as Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate and billionaire who is a surrogate for the Trump campaign.
After Trump’s speech, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., unveiled legislation for the stockpile that would require the U.S. government to buy 1 million bitcoin over five years — roughly 5% of the total supply and valued at tens of billions of dollars if bought at current exchange rates.
Kennedy addressed the conference a day before Trump, suggesting that the former president’s support for cryptocurrencies was new and politically expedient. Kennedy denounced policies in the Trump administration that he said had restricted the potential of cryptocurrency and highlighted Trump’s remarks after he left office describing bitcoin as a “scam against the dollar.”
“During his years in the White House, President Trump consistently spoke out against bitcoin,” Kennedy said Friday, criticizing Trump for not pardoning Ross W. Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road who was sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking in 2015.
Because Silk Road had traded in bitcoin, Ulbricht has become something of a martyr among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and Trump promised Saturday that he would commute his sentence if reelected.
Ramaswamy, who spoke at the Bitcoin Conference after Trump, said in an interview that Kennedy’s speech “smacks to me of pandering,” adding that the best way for Kennedy to advance his platform would be to drop out and endorse Trump.
“If he has good ideas to be part of the future,” Ramaswamy said, endorsing Trump “would be a great way for him to have an impact on the country.”
The New York Times News Service
