Former President Donald Trump made a series of major announcements at the Bitcoin 2024 Nashville conference, where he declared his intentions to make the United States the crypto capital of the planet. Trump promised to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on his first day in office and to end the anti-crypto crusade of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He also pledged to have regulations written by people who support the industry and to create a presidential advisory council for the crypto sector, while forbidding the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency.
In addition to announcing plans for a regulatory framework for stablecoins, Trump revealed his intention to create a strategic national bitcoin stockpile using bitcoin seized by the Department of Justice. He encouraged attendees to never sell their bitcoin, predicting that it could one day surpass the market cap of gold. Senator Cynthia Lummis also attended the conference and revealed plans for a bill to build a stockpile of 1 million BTC over a five-year period to pay down the US national debt.
Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services giant, announced a $2 billion lending program to finance Bitcoin, allowing clients holding bitcoin to access leverage. The CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, stated that the firm owns a significant amount of bitcoin. Other keynote speakers at the conference included Edward Snowden, who was not entirely supportive of the Trump worship. Harris was rumored to speak at the conference, but did not attend, as the Democrats seek a possible reset of their stance on crypto.
Despite Trump’s embrace of crypto, the market response was not as strong as expected, with Bitcoin briefly spiking in price before falling back. The Trump campaign has received $4 million in crypto donations, with support from the bitcoin mining sector. Trump’s election campaign has stalled, with Harris closing the gap in polls. Betting markets have Trump ahead, but the outcome remains uncertain. Overall, Trump’s pro-crypto stance and promises of regulatory support have divided opinion in the industry.
