Trump,
Appealing to Bitcoin Fans, Vows U.S. Will Be ‘Crypto Capital of the Planet’
Donald
Trump, speaking at a Bitcoin conference, told cryptocurrency holders that he
would end the “persecution” of their industry.
Chris Cameron
By Chris Cameron
Reporting from Nashville
July 27, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/us/politics/trump-bitcoin-crypto.html
Former President Donald J. Trump vowed on 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,” Mr. Trump told a
gathering of cryptocurrency fans in Nashville. “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’s anti-crypto crusade will be over” and that “the moment I’m sworn in,
the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry.”
Mr. Trump has been competing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the
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, Mr. 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.”
“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,” Mr. 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.”
Mr. 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 Mr. 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.
Mr. Trump vowed in his speech to fire Mr. Gensler upon
taking office, a promise that
was met with energetic cheers.
“I didn’t
know he was that 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
equated law enforcement seizing Bitcoin funds during criminal investigations to
fascism and revived his “Pocahontas” insult for Senator Elizabeth Warren,
Democrat of Massachusetts, who has pushed for tighter regulations for banking
and other industries, including cryptocurrencies.
Attacking
Ms. Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, Mr. 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,”
Mr. Trump said of Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, adding “That’s where this country
is going. It’s a fascist regime.”
Mr. 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, the former presidential candidate and billionaire who is a
surrogate for the Trump campaign.
After Mr.
Trump’s speech, Senator Cynthia Lummis, Republican of Wyoming, unveiled
legislation for the stockpile that would require the U.S. government to buy one
million Bitcoin over five years — roughly five percent of the total supply and
valued at tens of billions of dollars if bought at current exchange rates.
Mr. Kennedy
addressed the conference a day before Mr. Trump, suggesting that the former
president’s support for cryptocurrencies was new and politically expedient. Mr.
Kennedy denounced policies in the Trump administration that he said had
restricted the potential of cryptocurrency and highlighted Mr. 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,” Mr. Kennedy said on Friday, criticizing Mr. 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, Mr. Ulbricht has become something of a martyr
among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and Mr. Trump promised on Saturday that he
would commute his sentence if re-elected.
Mr.
Ramaswamy, who spoke at the Bitcoin Conference after Mr. Trump, said in an
interview that Mr. Kennedy’s speech “smacks to me of pandering,” adding that
the best way for Mr. Kennedy to advance his platform would be to drop out and
endorse 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.”
Chris
Cameron covers politics for The Times, focusing on breaking news and the 2024
campaign. More about Chris Cameron
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