Donald Trump, who has declared himself as a “crypto candidate,” will speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27 at 2 p.m. CT for 30 minutes at the conference’s closing.
While this would be the first time a presidential candidate attends the conference — the world’s biggest annual celebration of Bitcoin — it has sparked a debate over whether Trump will receive support from the crypto community in the upcoming election.
Crypto is now Trump’s new favorite
This election year, crypto has emerged as a political topic. Trump’s position on cryptocurrency represents a significant U-turn. A few years ago, he denounced Bitcoin as “a scam against the U.S. dollar” and said the central bank digital currencies are “very dangerous.” In past years, he said that crypto is “a disaster waiting to happen” and that he is “not a fan of it.”
Now he says he is “good” with crypto. Moreover, Trump’s campaign is accepting donations of Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Solana, and other cryptocurrencies. His vice presidential running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, is also a crypto-friendly leader who owns Bitcoin holdings through Coinbase that are valued between $100,001 and $250,000.
The crypto community is eager to see what Trump has to say about crypto. Trump has not yet declared how he plans to support cryptocurrency and blockchain growth through policies. However, he met with crypto miners last month and said that all the remaining Bitcoin should be created in the U.S.
Crypto expert and former Senior Advisor to Joe Biden, Moe Vela, told Quartz earlier this month that Trump speaking at the Bitcoin conference is a smart move, however, he will “simply say what his audience wants to hear.”
Nashville has become a political arena. Who else is attending?
The Bitcoin conference in Nashville has become a political playground. Besides Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also discuss crypto during the conference. Another crypto-friendly candidate, Kennedy once said he would like to put the entire U.S. budget on the blockchain so that any American can access it anytime.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a former top 2024 Republican U.S. Presidential candidate and a crypto-friendly leader, will also be speaking at the conference. Up until last year, he was the only GOP leader who supported crypto and had plans for its future. He garnered a lot of support from the crypto community before withdrawing from the presidential race. In his speeches, he often stated that he wanted to end Biden’s war on crypto and ensure that crypto and Bitcoin were made in America.
Crypto advocates such as ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and whistleblower Edward Snowden are among some prominent names that will attend the conference.