Trump Speaks Saturday at the Bitcoin Conference. Here’s What Attendees Like ‘The Crypto Patriot’ Hope He Says

NASHVILLE
—
It’s
finally
here:
President
Donald
Trump
Bitcoin
Conference
Speech
Eve.
That
means
Friday
is
the
last
weekday
you’ll
exist
in
a
world
where
a
U.S.
presidential
candidate
hasn’t
given
the
keynote
speech
at

the
Bitcoin
Conference.

There
is
speculation
he’ll
announce
plans,
or
at
least
hopes,
for
the
U.S.
government
to
hoard
a

bitcoin
strategic
reserve.
Trump
has
spoken
previously
about
wanting
bitcoin

(BTC)
to
be

made
in
America,
so
perhaps
that’ll
come
up
again.
Maybe
he’ll
diss
his
likely
opponent,
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris,
for

declining
an
invitation
to
the
very
conference
he’s
speaking
at.

CoinDesk
journalists
are
in
Nashville
for
the
event.
Here’s
what
attendees
on
the
show
floor
and
speakers
on
stage
had
to
say.

Fred
Thiel,
CEO
of
bitcoin
miner
Marathon
Digital,
echoed
talking
points
many
hope
the
former
president
embraces:
“If
the
U.S.
were
to
have
a
strategic
reserve
for
bitcoin,
they
could
project
power,”
he
said
on
stage.
“The
U.S.
needs
to
be
the
largest
holder
of
bitcoin
and
the
largest
miner
of
bitcoin.”

Others
buzzing
around
the
conference
floor
are
excited
about
what
Donald
Trump
will
say
tomorrow
–
or
want
him
to
amp
them
up.

“I
want
to
hear
[Trump]
give
a
bold
statement
on
the
future
of
crypto
and
spark
up
what
we
all
want,”
someone
who
gave
his
name
as
Caesar
and
said
he
founded
the
MAGA
VP
memecoin
told
CoinDesk
during
an
interview.
“And
that’s
a
movement
and
that’s
a
run.
And
that’s
what
we’re
here
for
and
that’s
what
we’re
here
to
promote.
We
are
all
chasing
the
dream
of
that
freedom.”

Whether
“movement
and
run”
is
in
reference
to
a

bitcoin
price
spike
or
more
empowerment
or
wider
liberty
or
further
freedom
is
up
to
interpretation,
though
the
answer
could
easily
be
“all
of
the
above.”

And
then
there
was
The
Crypto
Patriot,
the
pseudonym
for
a
member
of
the
MAGA
MEME
PAC.
That’s
a
group
of
crypto
advocates
who
are
visiting
swing
states
to
register
voters
in
an
attempt
to
unify
the
crypto
vote.
(Despite
the
name,
MAGA
Meme
PAC
is
not
an
officially
registered
political
action
committee.)

“I
hope
[Trump]
just
keeps
his
same
tune,”
The
Crypto
Patriot
said,
adding
that
he’s
a
fan
of
the
U.S.
having
a
bitcoin
reserve.
“Hopefully
they’re
going
to
back
our
reserve
with
bitcoin
and
that’s
what
I’m
hoping,
to
give
the
dollar
some
stability,”
he
added.
“The
dollar
is
currently
under
attack
and
the
rest
of
the
world
is
catching
on
to
what
we’re
doing.
If
we
can
back
it
with
bitcoin
and
bring
back
that
standard
where
the
dollar
can’t
be
inflated,
I
think
that
would
be
a
great
strategic
move
to
not
only
grow
the
entire
crypto
sphere
but
also
help
America
prosper.”

Crypto
advocate
and
former
political
candidate
Michelle
Bond
remarked
on
the
evolution
of
Trump’s
crypto
stance
from
hater
to
fan.
“Look
at
how
he’s
come
full
circle.
We
know
what’s
on
the
platform
already,
but
I
think
the
message
should
be:
We’re
going
to
do
everything
we
can
to
keep
this
industry
onshore
and
keep
the
United
States
the
leader
in
this
space.”

She
added:
“I
would
really
like
to
hear
him
detail
the
ways
to
get
there.
Also,
I
think
the
biggest
and
best
way
to
do
that
is
through
the
tone
of
the
talk.
You
have
this
positive
message
and
then
you
say:
‘All
right,
what
do
I
need
to
do?’
and
you
put
in
the
right
financial
regulators,
you
nominate
people
who
are
not
anti-crypto.
One
of
my
ideas
for
him
is
to
create
a
crypto
czar
in
the
administration
and
that
person
be
the
coordinator
among
the
regulatory
agencies
and
crypto.
And
he
can
do
executive
orders,
we
have
lots
of
negative
executive
orders,
what
about
a
positive
one?”

While
many
are
excited
about
the
Trump
speech,
not
everyone
has
excitable
views
on
the
topic.
Bittrex
Global
CEO
Oliver
Linch,
who
is
British,
brings
a
more
laissez-faire
view
on
the
Trump
speech.
“Will
there
be
any
show
stoppers,
like
the
bitcoin
reserve?
Who
knows?
There’ll
be
some
red
meat
for
the
crypto
enthusiasts,
because
of
course
there
will
be,
but
I
think
the
fact
that
he’s
doing
it
at
all
is
the
story.”
Linch
added:
“In
the
U.K.,
neither
major
party
even
mentioned
crypto”
in
the
leadup
to
that
nation’s
recent
election.

And
then
there
are
the
regular
attendees,
unattached
to
any
sort
of
organization
–
someone
like
Phil
Whatley,
a
retired
software
developer
from
Alabama,
who
told
CoinDesk
he
hopes
Trump
clarifies
that
bitcoin
transactions
are
tax-free.
“If
you’re
trading
peer-to-peer,
with
a
truly
distributed
system,
then
how’re
you
going
to
tax
them?”

What
will
happen
after
Trump’s
Saturday
speech?

Will
bitcoin
pump?

Will
it
dump?

Will
it
do
nothing?
Who
knows,
though
it’s
hard
to
see
how
Trump,
the
current
favorite
to
win
the
election,
speaking
about
the
topic
does
anything
but
help
the
crypto
market.

Something
that
might
get
it
there?
Copying
the
bullishness
of
fellow
presidential
candidate
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.,
who
is
running
as
an
independent.
At
a
conference
side
event
called

Karate
Combat,
he
said:
“I
am
a
huge
supporter
of
bitcoin.
I
have
most
of
my
wealth
in
bitcoin.
I
am
fully
committed.”

CORRECTION
(July
26,
2024,
22:05
UTC):

A
previous
version
of
this
story
incorrectly
said
Peter
Thiel
spoke
at
the
conference.
It
was
actually
Marathon’s
Fred
Thiel.