Trump pledges to fire SEC chair at Nashville Bitcoin conference
Cheers at Bitcoin conference follow Donald Trump’s pledge to fire SEC chair Glen Gensler
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 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.
Trump also reiterated his pledge to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht — founder of the darknet market website Silk Road, which facilitated the sale of narcotics, currently serving a life sentence ― sparking cries of “Free Ross! Free Ross!” from the crowd. Trump also said he will shut down the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point, an investigation initiative to probe banks, firearms dealers and payday lenders believed to be at high risk for fraud.
But the largest cheers of the speech came when Trump pledged to “fire” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler – an announcement that brought the audience to their feet. Gensler has been hostile to the crypto industry.
“I didn’t know he was that unpopular,” Trump said. “Let me say it again. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.”
The crowd again roared and broke out in chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
“I will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America should build the future, not block the future, which is what happened. And Kamala Harris wants to make him Treasury Secretary.”
Ending Biden’s ‘anti-crypto crusade’
He pledged to halt what he called an “anti-crypto crusade” from the Biden Harris administration and oppose efforts to establish a central bank digital currency – applauded by the crowd.
Unlike his independent opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spoke at the conference on Friday, Trump did not pledge to direct the U.S. Treasury to strategically buy Bitcoin to help stabilize the U.S. Dollar.
“The moment I’m sworn in, the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry, and as long as I’m 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 celebrated President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, but criticized Vice President Kamala Harris as “a radical left lunatic” who is “against crypto… against it very big.”
“For three and a half years, the current administration has waged a war on crypto and Bitcoin like nobody’s ever seen before,” he said.
He encouraged the crowd to get out to vote, warning that if he loses the election, “this country could be finished, calling his political opponents “totalitarians hell-bent on crushing crypto.”
“You have the SEC, you know what they’re doing: obliterating Bitcoin. The reason could not be more clear, because Bitcoin stands for freedom, sovereignty and independence from government coercion.”
Trump criticized the Biden administration’s spending, blaming “trillions of dollars of ridiculous waste approved by our opponents” that he said resulted in “the very inflation disaster that Bitcoiners have always predicted.”
“Bitcoiners understood inflation frankly better than anybody else ― if only they had listened,” Trump said. “20-30% of the value of every dollar was wiped out quickly. The life savings of millions of Americans was rapidly destroyed. It’s a stealth taxation. I call it the Biden tax, now I call it the Harris tax. Inflation is a 50% tax on people. This is a human tragedy.”
He pledged if re-elected to cut regulations, fight inflation, and make tax cuts he approved during his first term in office permanent.
“Those who say that Bitcoin is a threat to the dollar have it exactly backwards: Bitcoin is not threatening the dollar,” he said. “The behavior of the current U.S. government is really threatening the dollar.”
Tenn. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy promote Bitcoin
Several Tennessee officials attended or spoke at the Bitcoin conference and shared support for integration of cryptocurrency into the economic mainstream.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, spoke on a panel alongside former presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy on Saturday evening, and shared support for making Bitcoin a 401(k) investment option for federal employees.
Ramaswamy said Bitcoin should remain apolitical and that political support for Bitcoin comes from a desire to do what’s best for the country.
“Capitalism is neutral. Capitalism is what unites us across our otherwise partisan differences,” he said.
Blackburn emphasized her support for the industry and ensuring people have personal freedom to invest in Bitcoin.
“The federal government ought not to be messing with your transactional life,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn also held a “Biscuits and Bitcoin” campaign event ahead of the conference on Saturday morning featuring Ramaswamy, former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis on Saturday, which Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs attended.
Later Saturday, Lummis announced that she will file legislation to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve to establish the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Earlier this month, Blackburn’s campaign announced it would accept donations contributed in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
— Staff writer 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.