Former President Donald Trump pitched his plan to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world,” pledging to establish the nation’s first strategic Bitcoin stockpile, if elected.
Trump is the first presidential candidate from a major political party to make Bitcoin and cryptocurrency a campaign issue, and the first American president to speak at a Bitcoin event, addressing an enthusiastic standing-room-only crowd at the Bitcoin 2024 conference at the Music City Center in Nashville, two weeks after surviving an assassination attempt.
“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted, and made in the USA,” Trump said. “If Bitcoin is going to the moon, as they say, ‘it’s going to the moon,’ I want America to be the nation that leads the way.”
A cornerstone of his plan to make that happen is the first-ever Strategic National Bitcoin Stockpile, seeded with about 210,000 Bitcoins ― valued at about $13 billion ― that the federal government has already obtained through legal law enforcement seizures. The U.S. government is among the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world.
“For too long, our government has violated a cardinal rule that every Bitcoiner knows by heart: never sell your Bitcoin,” he said. “If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration for the United States of America to keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires.”
While Trump has voiced skepticism about Bitcoin in the past, even calling it “a disaster waiting to happen,” on Saturday he pledged to be a “pro-Bitcoin president.”
Trump walked on stage 57 minutes after he had been scheduled to speak – and about three hours after access to the room was cut off by the Secret Service. Despite the delay ― during which rumors spread of a surprise appearance by Space X CEO Elon Musk, whose plane was flying over Nashville at the time ― the crowd remained enthusiastic for the former president.
Throughout his 51-minute speech on Saturday, Trump praised industry leaders’ innovation as foundational to the nation’s future, likening the crypto industry to the steel industry of 100 years ago, and calling the crowd “modern-day Edisons and Wright brothers and Carnegies and Henry Fords.”
“America always plants our flag on the next frontier and pushes boldly ahead,” Trump said. “You are building America’s future with your own smarts, your own grit, and your own skin in the game.”
Trump has made moves in recent months that signal his policy reversal on crypto goes deeper than rhetoric. Earlier this year, Trump’s became the first presidential campaign to accept donations in Bitcoin and crypto. Since doing so in May, Trump announced Saturday, his camp has raised $25 million in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He also picked a running mate in Ohio Sen. JD Vance who has been supportive of cryptocurrencies and revealed in 2022 that he holds Bitcoin.
While in Nashville, Trump is reportedly holding a campaign fundraiser, where top tickets were sold for up to $844,600 per person – the maximum contribution amount to his joint fundraising committee, the Trump 47 Committee. Photo opportunities with Trump were available for $60,000 per person and $100,000 per couple.
Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally in Minnesota on Saturday evening with Vance, with an eye at making the historically blue state competitive.
Pledges to fire SEC chair, commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s sentence
Trump made several pledges to the world’s leading Bitcoiners on Saturday, including appointing a crypto-friendly board to draft regulations for the industry, boost U.S. energy production to support Bitcoin mining, commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, and “fire” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler.
Trump pledged to appoint a Bitcoin and crypto advisory council on his first day in office, and task the group “to design transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry” within 100 days.
“We will have regulations, but for now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, and not people who hate your industry,” he said.
He touted his plan to “harness American energy in all forms,” to bring the lowest cost of energy and electricity in the world, which he said would make America “the world’s undisputed mining powerhouse.”
“Bitcoin and crypto will grow our economy, cement American financial dominance and strengthen our entire country, long into the future,” he said.
