Trump says he will create a ‘national bitcoin stockpile’ as he woos cryptocurrency advocates at Nashville conference

Donald Trump says he intends to make the US the cryptocurrency capital of the world.
Trump made good on that promise at Bitcoin 2024, an annual cryptocurrency conference.
Trump also announced the firing of SEC chairman Gary Gensler and the repeal of federal regulations on cryptocurrencies.

Former President Donald Trump wants you to know he now loves Bitcoin.

Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville on Saturday, calling the cryptocurrency “the steel industry of 100 years ago.”

“I think you’re just in the early days,” Trump told a meeting of cryptocurrency leaders. “I see it happening. In just 15 years, bitcoin went from an idea posted anonymously on an Internet bulletin board to the ninth most valuable asset in the world.”

Trump said he would unveil a plan “to ensure that the United States is the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world.”

According to him, the plan would include firing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, creating a presidential advisory council on cryptocurrencies, blocking the creation of a central bank for digital currencies and eliminating federal regulation of cryptocurrencies, known as “Checkpoint 2.0.”

Trump also pledged to keep 100% of all bitcoin owned by the federal government — most of which has been confiscated by law enforcement — as a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile.”

Trump’s view of bitcoin seems to have come full circle. During his presidency in 2019, Trump called bitcoin “highly unstable and based on thin air.”

“We only have one real currency in the USA and it is stronger than ever,” Trump tweeted. “It’s called the US Dollar!”

But Trump is now a real crypto-state as he seeks the support of top crypto investors. Earlier this month, Gemini co-founders and crypto investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss donated $250,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC.

Bitcoin prices surged after an assassination attempt on Trump earlier this month rallied his base, with the currency hitting a peak of $62,000 as investors began betting on Trump’s return to power in November.

One of Trump’s opponents, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also spoke at the conference Friday, alluding to Trump’s stockpiling plans.

“I understand that tomorrow President Trump could announce his plan to build a bitcoin Fort Knox and authorize the U.S. government to purchase one million bitcoins as a strategic reserve asset,” Kennedy said. “And I applaud that announcement.”

But Kennedy said he would go even further. The candidate would immediately sign an executive order directing the U.S. Treasury to buy bitcoin every day and add it to the government’s existing tokens until the country builds a reserve of four million bitcoins, he said.

One million bitcoins is about $69 billion, according to Coinbase. Four billion bitcoins is about $276 billion.

Trump also used the opportunity to attack the cryptocurrency stance of his likely Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. “She’s very much against it,” he said. However, Harris’ stance on cryptocurrencies remains unclear. She has made no clear public comments on the matter.

The former president also promised to commute Ross Ulbricht’s prison sentence during a speech at the conference. Ulbricht is serving a life sentence for running the dark web site Silk Road, which was used to sell drugs and other products on the black market from 2011 to 2013.

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