Donald Trump said he would fire the Securities and Exchange Commission chair and pick crypto-friendly regulators if he returns to the White House in a bid to court virtual currency enthusiasts and harness the industry's growing influence in the political arena.
"This afternoon, I'm laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world and we'll get it done," Trump said at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville on Saturday.
The assembled crowd cheered loudly as Trump said he would fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose term is not up until 2026. If he wins the presidency, Trump would have significant sway over the top regulators for the burgeoning industry.
"We will have regulations, but from now on, the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry," Trump said.
He also pledged to form a crypto industry presidential advisory council, create a stablecoin framework, and called for a scale-back in enforcement.
Zachary Bradford, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Bitcoin miner Cleanspark, described Trump's speech as "a historic moment." Trump made repeated references to miners, and said that "America will become the world's undisputed Bitcoin mining powerhouse."
Tone Shift
The remarks in Nashville are the latest demonstration of how the former president has embraced the technology and sought to position himself as an advocate for crypto interests.
Trump voiced skepticism about cryptocurrencies in office, claiming he was "not a fan" and that their values were "based on thin air," but in his 2024 presidential campaign he's reversed course, increasingly highlighting Bitcoin on the trail and actively wooing the crypto sector.
That shift reflects the industry's increased prominence on the U.S. political scene as executives push to get candidates with policies supportive of digital assets elected to office through ever bigger donations, in part through the Fairshake super political action committee, as well as Trump's desire to reach out to new voters in his third run for the presidency.
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who attended the Nashville conference, said she plans to draft a bill requiring the government to build a stockpile of up to 1 million Bitcoin over five years.
The bill would require the government to hold the cryptocurrency for 20 years, and during those two decades it could only be used to reduce the national debt.
"The goal is to recognize the fact that Bitcoin is a durable asset," she said on the sidelines of the conference. "It's digital gold and it's a hard asset that can back the US dollar and provide assurance around the world that the US dollar remains worthy of being a world currency."
Bitcoin, which rose as much as 2.9% earlier on Saturday prior to Trump's speech, was little changed near $68,000 by the end of the speech.
Political Power
Crypto industry donors have poured more money into the 2024 election than in all prior cycles combined, according to OpenSecrets.
