Former President Donald Trump has promised to make the US a “bitcoin superpower” upon returning to the White House and said he would appoint an advisory council to craft transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry.
But Republican candidate Trump refrained from proposing a formal federal reserve for the digital currency.
Trump made a series of cryptocurrency-friendly policy commitments during remarks at a bitcoin conference on Saturday, including a promise to remove Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and create a “strategic national bitcoin reserve.” “I’m laying out my plan to make sure the United States becomes the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world,” Trump, 78, said.
Bitcoin is the world’s first widely adopted cryptocurrency – it allows secure and seamless peer-to-peer transactions over the internet.
He also warned that bitcoin investors in the audience would be “crushed” if Vice President Kamala Harris was elected president.
“They (Democrats) want to strangle you. They want to put you out of business. We’re not going to let that happen. And your government will no longer sit back and watch bitcoin jobs and businesses flee to other countries because the laws in the United States are too vague and too strict and too angry and too tough. We will keep every bitcoin job in the United States,” Trump said while addressing the Bitcoin 2024 conference, the biggest annual gathering of the cryptocurrency industry, at Nashville’s Music City Center.
Trump is the first major party candidate to address the annual cryptocurrency conference.
Trump also promised to “immediately” establish a “Bitcoin and Crypto Presidential Advisory Council,” which he said would provide “transparent regulatory guidance” for the cryptocurrency sector. “I’m proud to be the first U.S. president to address a bitcoin event anywhere in the world. If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, mined and manufactured in the USA,” he said.
He said, “We will have rules, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate it. People who want to make it clear and simple, straightforward and fair. People who want to see your industry thrive, not sink.”
Trump also said he would end efforts by the US government to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC), an initiative that has long been criticized by cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
He said, “I will immediately order the Treasury Department and other federal agencies to stop taking all necessary steps because there is something going on in your industry. They want to pursue the creation of a central bank digital currency. It’s over. Forget it. There will never be a CBDC as long as I am president of the United States. I will always defend the right to self-preservation. You will have a fantastic industry, and we are going to be the fuel for your industry.”
As president, Trump has declared bitcoin “not money” and criticized it, saying it is “highly volatile and volatile.” But Saturday marked a complete reversal on the issue during the former president’s recent White House bid. Indian-American entrepreneur-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy is Trump’s key adviser on cryptocurrencies.
Trump announced that as part of his effort to provide regulatory clarity, his administration would create a framework for the safe and responsible expansion of stablecoins, helping them expand the dominance of the US dollar into new regions around the world.
He said, “America will be richer, the world will be better and trillions of people will come into the crypto economy and store their savings in bitcoin. People who say bitcoin is a threat to the dollar are telling the wrong story. Bitcoin is not a threat to the dollar. The behavior of the current US government is actually a threat to the dollar.”
He alleged, “The threat to our financial future doesn’t come from crypto. It comes from trillions of dollars of wasted money, uncontrolled inflation, and open borders, while all the illegal aliens coming into our country by the millions are being provided welfare and free healthcare. It comes from printing hundreds of billions of dollars to fund endless wars abroad, while our cities here are like war zones.”
Under Trump, the US will become the world’s undisputed Bitcoin mining superpower.
“You will become a powerhouse in bitcoin mining. You won’t have to move your family to China. You won’t have to go to China. As we implement these reforms, bitcoin and crypto will grow our economy, strengthen American financial dominance and strengthen our entire country in the future,” he said. PTI LKJ NSA NSA
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
