NASHVILLE — Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville on Saturday and promised to make the U.S. the cryptocurrency superpower of the world.
Crowds of people lined the streets of Tennessee’s capital to greet the president’s motorcade while more people waited in line inside the Music City Center to listen to the former president’s speech.
“This afternoon, I’m laying out my plans to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet,” he said, adding that “Bitcoin stands for freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government.”
Trump also blasted Democrats’ unfair “targeting” of cryptocurrency and promised to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler “on day one.” Gensler has been critical of Bitcoin, saying the cryptocurrency is “rife with fraud” and has pushed to police cryptocurrency more heavily.
Trump further promised to appoint a Bitcoin and crypto advisory council on the first day of his new term.
The Bitcoin 2024 Conference attracted an estimated 20,000 people over the weekend, which included many Trump supporters along with some backers of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy spoke at the conference on Friday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic nominee, was also reportedly in talks to speak at the conference, but she did not. The Harris campaign has reportedly reached out to billionaire Mark Cuban with questions about cryptocurrency as she gears up her presidential campaign.
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“I’m getting multiple questions from her camp about crypto,” Cuban said. “So I take that as a good sign.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, among other political figures, also spoke at the conference.
Multiple Bitcoin enthusiasts at the conference told The Daily Wire that they were excited to hear Trump’s speech and hope he will push to create a strategic reserve of Bitcoin if he’s elected president.
Saturday’s speech featured Trump’s strongest statements in support of cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, his campaign started accepting donations in cryptocurrency.