Trump courts Bitcoin voters with pledge to create ‘national stockpile’
Speaking at the world’s largest Bitcoin conference Saturday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he would not sell Bitcoin held by the US government if elected in November.
The US held more than 213,000 Bitcoin worth more than $14 billion as of Saturday, according to crypto data platform Arkham.
“It will be the policy of my administration [of the] United States of America to keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the US Government currently holds or acquires,” he told the raucous crowd.
“This will serve, in effect, as the core of the strategic national Bitcoin stockpile.”
Moments later, self-proclaimed “Bitcoin senator” Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, took the stage and said she would introduce a bill “to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve” that would eventually hold 1 million Bitcoin — 5% of the world’s supply.
“It will be held for a minimum of 20 years,” Lummis said, “and can be used for one purpose: reduce our debt.”
Trump and Lummis weren’t the only politicians to endorse the idea at the three-day conference.
The Republicans joined long-shot independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who said he would create a “strategic reserve” of 4 million Bitcoin during his own speech at the conference Friday evening.
Once a crypto-skeptic, Trump has aggressively courted the industry this year in a bid to pick up voters who now see Democrats as an existential threat.
Under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, US regulators have cracked down on crypto companies large and small.
In turn, several crypto executives, including the Winklevoss twins and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, have said they would support Trump.
But Biden’s decision to abandon his bid for a second term has shaken up the race. Some in the industry believe Vice President Kamala Harris, the new front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, can win back some of the voters that Biden had lost.
Trump’s crypto platform
Trump detailed a crypto-friendly platform on Saturday that sometimes drew massive cheers from the Bitcoin faithful.
Among other things, the former president said he would fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler “on Day 1.”
He reiterated his pledge to block the development of a central bank digital currency and to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road.
Ulbricht is currently serving a life sentence for creating and running Silk Road, a website where users could buy illegal drugs using Bitcoin.
Trump said he would “always defend the right to self-custody.” He said the growth of stablecoins would cement the dominance of the US dollar.
Trump pledged to “immediately shut down Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” a term popularized by crypto investor Nic Carter that refers to the Biden administration’s alleged attempt to pressure banks into severing ties with crypto clients.
The former president also said he would create a “Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council” tasked with creating “transparent regulatory guidance.”
“From now on, the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” he said.
But the biggest news was the creation of a Bitcoin reserve, something Lummis had hinted at during an appearance on Fox News earlier this week.
As anticipation of Trump’s speech mounted, Bitcoin topped $69,300 — a one-month high.
Bitcoin dropped almost 2% as the speech neared its end with no announcement in sight. But by the time Trump and Lummis had finished speaking, it was again approaching $69,000.
“Thank you all,” Trump said, closing his speech. “Have a good time with your Bitcoin and your crypto and everything else that you’re playing with.”
Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. You can contact him at [email protected].
