By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 27 July 2024
Donald Trump gave the keynote speech at the bitcoin conference in Nashville, shortly after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said that on his first day in office he would fire Gary Gensler and appoint a Securities and Exchange Commission chair who supports innovation, that the US would become a “bitcoin mining powerhouse” and keep 100% of the bitcoin it acquires, and that there would be no central bank digital currency under his presidency. He also pledged to free Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to have the Treasury buy 550 bitcoin a day as a reserve asset. The piece questioned whether Trump had been fully briefed on bitcoin, noting his frequent references to “crypto” rather than “bitcoin”. It also links the Republican platform’s “Bitcoin Rights” language to the Satoshi Action Fund’s work with state legislators.