NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has promised to make America the world leader in bitcoin and other digital currencies if elected, comparing the crypto-verse to “the steel industry of 100 years ago.”
Speaking at the annual Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, to a standing-room-only crowd, Trump promised to make sure America becomes “the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world.”
Trump portrayed himself as a crypto advocate in contrast to the Biden administration and other Democrats, who he said had been friendly to his cause.
Trump said – to rapturous applause from the Nashville crowd – that if elected, he would fire the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, who the crypto world has come to see as his main opponent in the government because of his agency. decisions on digital tokens and lawsuits against bitcoin exchanges.
“I will appoint an SEC chair who builds the future, not blocks the future,” Trump said.
His embrace of the crypto comes amid high-profile endorsements from bitcoin advocates, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin brothers best known for Mark Zuckerberg’s cause for the creation of Facebook and who founded the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.
Trump’s remarks further cemented his growing alliance with other right-wing figures in the tech world, although the novelty of his appearance at the conference was not lost on him. As he praised the audience as “genius”, he acknowledged that he was still learning about crypto.
“Most people have no idea what the hell that is,” he joked. “So what will happen when everyone understands? It will be something.”
Trump offered a proposal to create a national bitcoin “stockpile” that he said would serve as a “permanent national asset,” though he did not offer many details.
The idea of creating a strategic crypto reserve quickly caught on among bitcoin supporters. On Friday, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. he also proposed to create a bitcoin reserve, saying he would direct the Treasury to buy 4 million bitcoins, which in today’s prices would be equivalent to about $272 billion.
Immediately after Trump’s remarks, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said she would introduce a bill to create the reserve.
However, the price of bitcoin fell shortly after Trump’s remarks on Saturday, perhaps reflecting the expectations of crypto traders for a more definite commitment on the reserve idea from the presidential candidate.
While the Bitcoin Conference is officially apolitical, Trump’s speech punctuated an event that featured Republican-leaning political panelists, including four sitting GOP senators and three GOP Senate candidates.
The only Democrat elected, representative of California Ro Khanna, spoke earlier on Saturday and criticized the tendency in his own party to further strengthen the traditional centers of finance.
“I think the Democrats were opposed to monopoly power. … We don’t want the banks and the Fed to have a monopoly on fast payments,” Khanna said on a panel Saturday.
Shortly after his remarks this morning, Bitcoin Magazine reported that a group of Democratic representatives and candidates had sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee urging party leaders to be more supportive of crypto.
In addition to Khanna, the letter’s signatories include representatives in purple districts in critical swing states like North Carolina and Arizona.
The “hostility” of the current administration, the signatories said, does not reflect “the progressive, forward-thinking and inclusive values of our Party.”
“A cool head of the ticket represents an opportunity to change that perception,” they wrote.
In a follow-up interview with NBC News at the conference, Khanna said positive engagement with the crypto community would be in line with Democrats’ desire to be “the party of the future.”
“They’re passionate, they’re active on social media, and they’re mobilized,” Khanna said. “And it’s a community that’s going to vote.”
Conference organizers say Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has declined an invitation to appear at the conference. The organizers refused to comment further on the matter, although the head of the conference David Bailey criticized Harris‘ absence on X. Harris’ campaign did not comment.
In an interview with NBC News on Friday, Bailey said that despite the fact that Harris did not appear at the conference, the window had not closed on the ability of the Democrats to win the support of the crypto community.
“There’s a whole progressive case for bitcoin,” he said. While this logic hasn’t received much notice, Bailey said, “my hunch is, in the next four years, it will.”
On Saturday, the Financial Times reported Harris has approached top crypto companies seeking a “reset” of relations, citing unnamed sources.
Bailey said that ultimately it will become a political necessity for all political parties to engage with bitcoin supporters as a political bloc.
“It’s not too late – in fact, everyone should do it,” he said. “They won’t be feasible otherwise.”
Outside the conference early Saturday, pro-Trump bitcoin supporters made their presence felt.
Chad Kozman, a resident of Ohio, wore a “Free Ross/Vote Trump” shirt, referring to the community’s desire to see the life of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht on drug and money laundering charges of money, something Trump has promised to do.
Kozman told NBC News that while Trump’s overtures to the crypto community were opportunistic, it was also a sign that the community had matured beyond its individualistic roots into a voting group that had to be considered.
“For the bitcoin community, it’s been a really hard road to get people to see the benefits of collectivity and coming together,” he said.
