Bitcoin
Trump, appealing to Bitcoin fans, promises the US will be the ‘crypto capital of the planet’
Former President Donald J. Trump vowed Saturday to turn the United States into a “Bitcoin superpower” if he returned to the White House, using much of the same persecutory rhetoric he applied to himself and his supporters to appeal to cryptocurrency enthusiasts who want to see less regulation.
“Unfortunately, we see the attacks on crypto,” Mr. Trump told a gathering of cryptocurrency fans in Nashville. “It’s part of a much larger pattern that’s being carried out by the same left-wing fascists to weaponize the government against any threat to their power. They did it to me.”
He added that if he were elected, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ anti-crypto crusade would end” and that “the moment I take office, the persecution will cease and the weaponization of your industry will end.”
Mr. Trump has been competing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, for the support of cryptocurrency holders, and his comments represented some of his most direct speech yet.
Three major cryptocurrency companies have invested around $150 million to elect pro-crypto candidates in congressional races. In his speech, Mr. Trump promoted himself as “the first major party candidate in American history to accept donations in Bitcoin and crypto,” adding that his campaign had raised $25 million in cryptocurrency donations in the past two months.
The former president offered promises of sweeping deregulation and the establishment of a “strategic national stockpile of Bitcoin.”
“I am laying out my plan to ensure that the United States is the cryptocurrency 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 to transact, freedom of association and freedom of speech.”
Mr. Trump also said he would end the U.S. government’s efforts to create a central bank digital currencya move that crypto enthusiasts have long criticized, and that he would establish a “presidential advisory council on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies” to draft new regulations “written by people who love their industry, not hate their industry.”
It was unclear what exactly these new crypto-friendly regulations would look like, but Mr. Trump attacked the Biden administration for moves that many in the industry have made clear they dislike. In response to concerns about increased risk and volatility in the cryptocurrency marketthe Biden administration has has taken steps to regulate cryptocurrencieswhile the Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Genslerhe has repressed with fines and lawsuits afterwards a prominent exchange suddenly collapsed and its founder was convicted of widespread allegations of fraud.
Mr. Trump vowed in his speech to fire Mr. Gensler upon taking office, a promise that was met with loud applause.
“I didn’t know he was so unpopular,” Mr. Trump said after the crowd’s enthusiastic response. “Let me say it again: On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.”
He also compared police seizure of Bitcoin funds during criminal investigations to fascism and revived his “Pocahontas” insult to Senator Elizabeth WarrenMassachusetts Democrat who has pushed for tighter regulations for banking and other sectors, including cryptocurrencies.
Attacking Ms Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, Mr Trump said she was “against cryptocurrencies” and urged attendees to “go out and vote”.
“It should come as no surprise that these same totalitarians are determined to destroy crypto,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, adding, “That’s where this country is headed. It’s a fascist regime.”
Mr. Trump led a large Republican delegation to the Bitcoin Conference. Four senators and three Senate candidates, all Republicans, spoke at the conference, as did Vivek Ramaswamy, the former presidential candidate and billionaire who is a surrogate for Mr. Trump’s campaign.
Following Mr Trump’s speech, Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, unveiled legislation for the stockpile that would require the US government to purchase one million Bitcoins over five years — roughly five per cent of the total supply and valued at tens of billions of dollars if purchased at current exchange rates.
Mr. Kennedy spoke at the conference a day before Mr. Trump, suggesting that the former president’s support for cryptocurrencies was novel and politically expedient. Mr. Kennedy denounced policies in the Trump administration that he said had restricted the potential of cryptocurrency and highlighted remarks by Mr. Trump after he left office describing Bitcoin as a “blow against the dollar”.
“During his years in the White House, President Trump has consistently spoken out against Bitcoin,” Mr. Kennedy said on Friday, criticizing Mr. Trump for not pardoning Ross W. Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking in 2015.
Why Silk Road traded in BitcoinMr. Ulbricht has become something of a martyr among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and Mr. Trump vowed on Saturday to commute his sentence if he were reelected.
Mr. Ramaswamy, who spoke at the Bitcoin Conference after Mr. Trump, said in an interview that Mr. Kennedy’s speech “sounds like flattery to me,” adding that the best way for Mr. Kennedy to promote his platform would be to back down and support Mr. Trump.
“If he has good ideas to be part of the future,” Mr. Ramaswamy said, endorsing Mr. Trump “would be a great way for him to have an impact on the country.”