Former President Donald Trump has outlined his plan to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet and the world’s Bitcoin superpower,” pledging to establish the country’s first strategic Bitcoin stockpile if elected.
Trump is the first presidential candidate of a major political party to make Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies a campaign issue, and the first U.S. president to speak at a Bitcoin event, addressing a cheering, standing-room-only crowd at the Bitcoin 2024 conference at Music City Center in Nashville, two weeks after surviving an assassination attempt.
“If cryptocurrencies are going to define the future, I want them minted, minted and manufactured in the United States,” Trump said. “If Bitcoin goes to the moon, as they say, ‘it goes to the moon,’ I want America to be the nation that leads the way.”
One of the cornerstones of his plan to achieve this is the first-ever Strategic National Bitcoin Reserve, consisting of about 210,000 bitcoins — worth about $13 billion — that the federal government has already obtained through lawful seizures by law enforcement. The U.S. government is one of 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 elected, it will be the policy of my administration that the United States of America retains 100% of all bitcoin that the U.S. government currently holds or acquires.”
While Trump has expressed skepticism about Bitcoin in the past, even calling it a “disaster waiting to happen,” he pledged on Saturday to be a “pro-Bitcoin president.”
Donald Trump took the stage 57 minutes into his speech, and about three hours after the Secret Service shut down access to the venue. Despite the delay, which led to speculation about 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 Saturday, Trump hailed the innovation of industry leaders as fundamental to the nation’s future, comparing the crypto industry to the steel industry of 100 years ago, and calling the crowd “the Edisons and the Wright brothers and the Carnegies and the Henry Fords of modern times.”
“America always plants its flag on the next frontier and moves forward boldly,” Trump said. “You build America’s future with your own intelligence, your own courage and your own skin in the game.”
In recent months, Trump has taken steps that show his policy shift on cryptocurrencies goes beyond rhetoric. Earlier this year, Trump’s presidential campaign became the first to accept donations in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Since doing so in May, Trump announced Saturday that his campaign has raised $25 million in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He also picked a running mate in Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who supports cryptocurrencies and revealed in 2022 that he holds Bitcoin.
Trump reportedly held a campaign fundraiser in Nashville, where the most expensive tickets sold for up to $844,600 per person, the maximum contribution to his joint fundraising committee, the Trump 47 Committee. Photo ops with Trump were available for $60,000 per person and $100,000 per couple.
Trump is expected to speak at a rally in Minnesota on Saturday night with Vance, aiming to make the historically blue state competitive.
SEC Agrees to Fire Chairman, Commute Sentence of Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht
Trump made several promises to the world’s leading Bitcoiners on Saturday, including appointing a crypto-friendly board to develop regulations for the industry, boosting U.S. energy production to support Bitcoin mining, commuting Ross Ulbricht’s sentence and “firing” Gary Gensler from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trump has pledged to appoint a Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Advisory Council on his first day in office, and to task the group with “developing transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry” within 100 days.
“We will have regulations, but for now the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not by people who hate it,” he said.
He touted his plan to “harness American energy in all its forms,” to offer the lowest cost of energy and electricity in the world, which he said would make America “the undisputed mining power of the world.”
“Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will grow our economy, solidify America’s financial dominance, and strengthen our entire country, in the long run,” he said.
Trump also reiterated his promise to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online drug trafficking site Silk Road who is currently serving a life sentence, prompting chants from the crowd of “Free Ross! Free Ross!” Trump also said he would end the Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point, an investigative initiative that investigates banks, gun dealers and payday lenders deemed to pose a high risk of fraud.
But the biggest hit of the speech came when Trump promised to “fire” US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler – an announcement that brought the audience to its feet. Gensler was hostile to the cryptocurrency industry.
“I didn’t know he was so unpopular,” Trump said. “I’ll say it again: On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.”
The crowd roared again and began chanting: “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
“I will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes that America needs to build the future, not block it, which is what happened. And Kamala Harris wants to make him Treasury Secretary.”
End Biden’s “Anti-Crypto Crusade”
He pledged to end what he called an “anti-crypto crusade” by the Biden-Harris administration and oppose efforts to establish a central bank digital currency — to cheers from the crowd.
Unlike his independent opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spoke at the conference Friday, Trump did not commit to ordering the U.S. Treasury to strategically purchase Bitcoin to help stabilize the U.S. dollar.
“The moment I take the oath of office, the persecution ends and the militarization of your industry ends, as long as I am in the Oval Office,” Trump said.
“You’re going to be very happy with me,” Trump said, drawing a chuckle. “You’re going to be so happy.”
He welcomed President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, but criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her a “radical left lunatic” who is “against crypto…against it in a very big way.”
“For the past three and a half years, the current administration has been waging a war on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin like no one has ever seen before,” he said.
He encouraged the crowd to go out and vote, warning that if he lost the election, “this country could be over,” calling his political opponents “totalitarians hell-bent on crushing crypto.”
“You have the SEC, you know what they are doing: they want to destroy Bitcoin. The reason couldn’t be clearer, because Bitcoin represents freedom, sovereignty and independence from government coercion.”
Trump criticized the Biden administration’s spending, charging that “trillions of dollars of ridiculous waste approved by our adversaries” had led to “the very inflationary disaster that Bitcoin advocates have always predicted.”
“Bitcoin proponents understood inflation better than anyone — if only they had listened,” Trump said. “20 to 30 percent of the value of every dollar was quickly wiped out. Millions of Americans’ savings were quickly destroyed. It’s a stealth tax. I call it the Biden tax, now I call it the Harris tax. Inflation is a 50 percent tax on people. It’s a human tragedy.”
He has pledged, if re-elected, to cut regulation, fight inflation and make permanent the tax cuts he approved in his first term.
“Those who say that Bitcoin is a threat to the dollar are absolutely wrong: Bitcoin is not a threat to the dollar,” he said. “The current behavior of the U.S. government is actually threatening the dollar.”
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and Former Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Promote Bitcoin
Several Tennessee officials attended or spoke at the Bitcoin conference and lent their support for bringing the cryptocurrency into the economic mainstream.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., spoke on a panel alongside former presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy Saturday night, and shared her support for creating Bitcoin as a 401(k) investment option for federal employees.
Ramaswamy said that Bitcoin should remain apolitical and that political support for Bitcoin comes from a desire to do what is best for the country.
“Capitalism is neutral. Capitalism is what unites us beyond our partisan differences,” he said.
Blackburn stressed his support for the industry and wanted to ensure people have the personal freedom to invest in Bitcoin.
“The federal government should not be interfering in your transactional life,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn also hosted a “Cookies and Bitcoin” campaign event ahead of the conference Saturday morning with Ramaswamy, former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis on Saturday, which was attended by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs.
On Saturday, Lummis announced she would introduce legislation to create a strategic reserve of bitcoin to make the U.S. dollar the world’s reserve currency. Earlier this month, Blackburn’s campaign announced it would accept donations in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
— Reporter Hadley Hitson contributed to this report.
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean or on X at @Vivian_E_Jones.