Key points:

  • Donald Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • He emphasized the need to compete with China, which is tightening regulations on cryptocurrencies.
  • Trump promises to create a cryptocurrency advisory board and a national Bitcoin reserve if re-elected.

Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of Republican efforts to attract cryptocurrency holders ahead of the November 5 election.

Bitcoin prices fell on Saturday after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told an audience of cryptocurrency enthusiasts that bitcoin would “go to the moon” and expressed his desire for the United States to become a leader in the field.

Trump cites China competition, promises to create Bitcoin ‘stockpile’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stressed the need for the U.S. to take a leading position in the cryptocurrency sector at a Bitcoin conference on Saturday, lest China dominate, he said. The statement was part of his campaign to drum up support for the cryptocurrency, which Beijing has restricted and Trump himself has previously called a “fraud.”

Trump has positioned himself as a cryptocurrency advocate in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November 5. He has promised that if he wins, he will make the U.S. a global leader in cryptocurrency and implement more favorable regulations than likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Republican Party promises softer regulation of cryptocurrencies

China has tightened its grip on cryptocurrencies and tightened rules on the movement of capital across its borders. However, citizens can still trade tokens on cryptocurrency exchanges and open foreign bank accounts to purchase crypto assets.

In response, Trump promised to create an advisory board on cryptocurrencies and create a national reserve of bitcoins using digital assets already in the U.S. government’s possession and those seized in law enforcement operations.

He said: “Never sell your bitcoins. If elected, it will be the policy of my administration and the United States of America to retain 100% of all bitcoins currently held or acquired in the future by the U.S. government.”

Trump noted that he would like to see an increase in Bitcoin mining by American companies, despite the fact that in 2021 he called the cryptocurrency a “fraud.” After his speech, the price of Bitcoin initially fell, but then recovered to $68,182, which is 0.94% higher than the previous value. On the morning of July 29, the first cryptocurrency exceeded the value of $69 thousand.

Supporters of digital assets argue that cryptocurrency users are becoming an increasingly significant political force in this election cycle, although it is unclear how many of them will prioritize cryptocurrency over other issues in the election. Some of them support Trump, and any move by the United States to create a national Bitcoin reserve will likely be perceived by them as an important step towards legitimizing cryptocurrency.

At the same time, cryptocurrency executives are unhappy with the enforcement measures taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Joe Biden. The agency claims that several cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and Binance, facilitate trading of digital assets on their platforms that must be registered as securities, which the companies deny.