Full text of Trump's speech at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference: Ensuring that the United States becomes a Bitcoin superpower

Thousands of Bitcoin fans camped out for hours at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville on Saturday just to see the cryptocurrency candidate, Trump. Golden Finance has compiled Trump's speech on cryptocurrency below for readers.

• Trump, who adheres to the principle of “America First,” believes that the crypto industry is “what the steel industry was 100 years ago, and it’s still in its infancy.” “One day, it may surpass gold.

• Trump will ensure that America becomes the cryptocurrency capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world.

• Trump will fire Gray Gensler on his first day in office. A CBDC will never be launched while he is President of the United States.
  

• In his speech, Trump pledged to maintain a "national strategic bitcoin reserve" and to "never sell" bitcoins seized by the government.

• Trump pointed out: "I want Bitcoin to be mined, minted and manufactured in the United States." And formulated a "comprehensive" encryption policy, from stablecoin regulation to Bitcoin self-custody rights. The United States will become the world's undisputed Bitcoin mining powerhouse.

• Trump will commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht's sentence to time already served.
  

Our country is blessed to have such extraordinary talent, energy, and genius in this room. They are truly geniuses, and that is what makes America great. That is what will help us make America great again. And that is what we are doing.

I stand before you today with so much respect and admiration for what the Bitcoin community has accomplished. It is truly incredible, it is like the steel industry 100 years ago. I think Bitcoin is still in its infancy. In just 15 years, Bitcoin has gone from an idea posted anonymously on an internet message board to the ninth most valuable asset in the world. It is already worth more than ExxonMobil, and soon it will be worth more than the entire silver industry.

One day, Bitcoin could replace gold, and based on the developments that are going on right now, it's very possible. Bitcoin is not just a technological miracle, it's a miracle of cooperation and human achievement, as you know. They just had a meeting, a roundtable, with a lot of the leaders, and it was amazing. There was a great friendship between them. It was really interesting. Obviously, there was competition between them, but there were relationships. There was friendship between them. I noticed that I don't usually see that very often; I see the opposite. They actually want to, they want to attack each other. They want to kill each other. These people have a great sense. They are also very smart people. Congratulations on all your achievements. This room is amazing. The people in this room are all high IQ people. I'm competing against a low IQ person, she, I'm not even saying him, she, I met a low IQ person. …

The reason I came to speak to the Bitcoin community today can be summed up in very simple words: America First. Because if we don't do it, China will do it, and other countries will do it. Let's do it and do it well. My vision is for America to dominate the future. We have the best economy, the highest standard of living, the safest, the most beautiful cities. By the way, when I say the safest, our cities are going to hell. Right now, our cities are going to hell. We're going to fix our cities. We're going to work with the Democrats who destroyed our cities, but we're going to work with them. We're going to take our cities back. We're going to get our country back…

If we don't embrace cryptocurrency and Bitcoin technology, China and other countries will, and they will dominate, and we can't let China dominate. They've made so much progress, and we want them to succeed. I want China to succeed, but we have to be the most successful. What's going to happen? I want the United States to lead in technology, science, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and space. …

You’re going to need a lot of electricity. You’re going to need twice the entire amount of electricity that the United States has right now to dominate, and we’re going to do it. Who would have thought we could do it? But we’re going to do it. We’re going to build power plants on site. We’re going to unshackle people from some of these ridiculous requirements, and we’re going to use fossil fuels to generate electricity because we have to. We’re going to use nuclear power. We’re going to do it in an environmentally friendly way, but we’re going to produce so much electricity that you’re going to say, Mr. President, please, no more electricity. We can’t take it. You’re going to beg me, no more electricity, sir, we’ve got enough already. We’ve got enough.

You know, in the Midwest, they just opened two charging stations, you know, one is an electric car charger. You know, I like Elon. He's great. He supports me, very supportive. Everything else is great, but not everybody has to have an electric car. I told him that. So we're going to roll back that rule. Some people want gas and drive cars, if you don't mind. Some people want hybrids, some people like electric cars. They're great. I think they're great. I think what he's done is great. … Like these charging stations that they're building in the Midwest, there's eight of them. They're spending $9 billion to build eight charging stations to charge the cars. At this rate, it's going to cost about $12 trillion to install these charging stations. Somehow, it's not working. We have to produce a lot of electricity for artificial intelligence and all the other things, including what you're doing, and we're going to produce it. We're going to produce it fast, or we're not going to be able to compete with China and other countries. So we're going to produce it fast. This afternoon, I'm going to lay out my plan to make sure that the United States becomes the cryptocurrency capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world, and we're going to get it done. …

If Bitcoin is going to the moon, as we say, it's going to the moon, I want America to be the country that leads the way. That's what's going to happen. You're going to be very happy with me, though. You're going to be very happy. You're going to say he's the greatest. That's why I'm proud to be the first major party candidate in American history to accept Bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations. …

I heard from Vivek that there are 175 million people who are involved in some form in this world of crypto and Bitcoin and all the rest of it, 175 million people. So when they heard that, they said, let's be nice to them, at least after the election. So I took a lot of the pressure off a lot of people, a lot of people who are very happy today, who weren't this excited about three months ago, three and a half years ago. Right? You know, that's right. For three and a half years, the current administration has waged an unprecedented war on crypto and Bitcoin. For those of you who work in this industry, they're targeting your banks. They're cutting off your financial services. Did people see that? Yes, they saw that; a lot of people raised their hands. They're blocking regular Americans from moving money to your exchanges. They're defaming you as criminals. But that also happened to me because I said the election was rigged. He said the election was rigged because I made that statement. Of course, they say that about us and say it's OK now. By the way, we did very well in the election. You know, we recently lost a candidate, the fraud Joe Biden, who I thought we lost was a great guy, who is actually a terrible person if you want to know the truth, so don't feel bad. We have another one of the worst, the worst. But I made an analogy last night, last night, think about this. I was speaking in front of a very strong, very religious group, a Christian group, Christians, evangelical Christians. Today, I talked about Bitcoin again, and now I'm going to Minnesota for a rally. You think I have a great life, don't you? Huh? But I cover a lot of ground. I go from religion to Bitcoin to rallies, and I don't conflate them like some other people do. …

It's an honor to be with you. Sadly, we're seeing attacks on cryptocurrencies. This is part of a larger pattern being perpetrated by the same left-wing fascists to weaponize government against any threat to their power. They did the same thing to me. Did you see I just won a big case in Florida? Thank you so much. …

The thing is Kamala is worse than Joe. She's a radical left-wing lunatic, defunding the police, doing all sorts of different things. So far, we're doing -- she's in a short honeymoon period right now. But when people hear that she's against cryptocurrency, which, by the way, she's against it, very strongly. So I just want you to know, you have to get out. You have to get out and vote. It's no surprise that these totalitarians are hell-bent on destroying cryptocurrency and wiping it out, and that's what they want to do, and that's what they're saying -- well, I mean, they, they're totally like that. You have the SEC, you know what they're doing. Know what they're doing, wiping out Bitcoin. And the reason couldn't be clearer, because Bitcoin represents freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government coercion and control. The Biden-Harris administration's clampdown on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin is wrong, and it's very bad for our country. It's really unpatriotic. …

If we don't win this campaign, and I know you're not too into politics, but you have to be into politics because everything you do is about politics. If we don't win this campaign, this country could be finished. It's going to be bad for this country, but we have to persevere. We have to fight, we have to win. I promise the Bitcoin community, the day I'm sworn in, the anti-crypto campaign of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris will end. It will end. The minute I'm sworn in, the persecution will stop, the weaponization against your industry will end, as long as I'm in the Oval Office. Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas, remember her, yes, I'm Indian. She said I'm Indian. Why are you Indian? You don't look Indian? No, no. My mom told me I have high cheekbones. Oh, that's why she's Indian. So I named her Pocahontas, Elizabeth Warren and her goons, she's mean to you. She hates your people. She hates everything about you. We're going to stop them from Bitcoin. Stop them from crypto. They can make it grow. We're going to make it grow. On day one, I would fire Gray Gensler…

[Audience cheers, chanting: "Trump! Trump! Trump!"]

I had no idea he was so unpopular. Let me say it again: On day one, I would fire Gray Gensler . … I would appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America should build its future, not hinder it. …

As President, I will shut down Operation Choke Point 2.0 immediately. … They want to choke you. They want to throttle you. Bankrupt? We won’t let that happen. And, your government will no longer sit by and watch Bitcoin jobs and businesses flee to other countries because American laws are too unclear, too harsh, too angry, too inflexible. We will save every Bitcoin job in America, and that’s what we’re going to do. Upon taking office, I will immediately appoint a Presidential Advisory Commission on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. Anyone want to serve on this commission…

Their task is to design transparent regulatory guidelines that benefit the entire industry, and they will do so in 100 days. We will write regulations, but from now on, the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not those who hate it. These are the people who want to make things clear, simple, direct, and fair, and they want to see your industry thrive, not wither. Next, I will immediately order the Treasury Department and other federal agencies to cease and desist from all necessary actions, because, as you know, there is a thing happening in your industry. They want to push for the creation of a central bank digital currency. That's over. Forget it. CBDC. There will never be a CBDC during my tenure as President of the United States. …

I will always defend the right to self-custody. Self-custody, and you're going to have a great industry. You're going to have a great industry, and we're going to fuel your industry, not destroy it. America will once again be a country that protects property rights, privacy, freedom to trade, freedom of association, and freedom of speech. We will transform our country, and we'll go back to the time when we were a country that was building, not a country that was killing each other from within. As part of our efforts to provide regulatory clarity, we will create a framework that will enable the safe, responsible expansion of stablecoins. Do you know what a stablecoin is? Does anyone know? Raise your hand. Allow us to expand the dominance of the dollar into new areas around the world. America will be richer, the world will be better off, and billions of people will enter the crypto economy and store their savings in Bitcoin. So that's the status quo. Those who say Bitcoin is a threat to the dollar have completely put the cart before the horse. I think that's completely put the cart before the horse. Bitcoin is not a threat to the dollar. The actions of the current U.S. government are the real threat to the dollar. …

The danger to our financial future does not come from cryptocurrency. It comes from Washington, D.C. It comes from trillions of dollars in waste, rampant inflation, and open borders while providing welfare and free healthcare to the millions of illegal immigrants who flood into our country. It comes from printing hundreds of billions of dollars to fund endless wars overseas while our cities act like war zones at home. …

We want to restore common sense. We're talking about common sense today, and Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are going to soar faster than ever before, faster than you can even expect, and you're the ones who are doing it. When we stop the war on cryptocurrencies. We will immediately and very quickly start building our economy. Because when America prospers, Bitcoin soars, and Bitcoin goes up with it. We have the greatest economy ever, and we're going to have it again very soon. Under the Trump administration, the typical middle-class family income has increased by $6,000 a year. People don't like to mention that in my four years in office, the United States has more money to save than at any time in decades. Now you have to hear the numbers. They're beautiful numbers, and I don't want to repeat them. Listen to the numbers. In my four years in office, Bitcoin has soared 3,900%, from $898 the day I took office to $35,900 the day I left office. I think that's the biggest jump in almost any industry; think about it. Now, compare that to Bitcoin being up 50% adjusted for inflation after three and a half years of Biden and Harris, 50% sounds good, but when you compare it to almost 4,000%, it doesn’t sound good, right? You know, 50%, normally you’d say, oh, that sounds pretty good. Let’s not put that in a speech. 50% is that good? When people can’t afford food or rent, they don’t have savings to store Bitcoin, and this administration has created the greatest inflation in the history of our country. That’s what happened. People were wiped out from day one. We took back the White House. We’re going to replace the Biden-Harris economic stagnation with the brand new Trump economic boom. You’re going to have a huge boom. …

I will cut unnecessary regulatory burdens. Work every day to make America the best place on Earth to do business, including cryptocurrency business. America will be the best place. You don't have to go to China. You don't have to learn, oh my god, how am I going to learn Chinese? I want to learn it soon. Have a little granddaughter who speaks fluent Chinese. Can you believe it? It's a wonderful thing. It's not easy, but you don't have to do it. Most importantly for our citizens, we will end the inflation nightmare that this administration has created, and we will end it quickly. It has to end. It's destroying our country. You know, inflation is a nation killer. You can trace it back to Germany many years ago. You look at what happened in Germany during the period of great inflation. It destroyed the country. Bitcoin supporters are a nation killer. I'm telling you, you recognized the dangers of inflation earlier than most people. Frankly, you understood inflation better than anyone, and you knew that, didn't you? If only they had listened. They didn't listen to you. They didn't listen to you. The ridiculous waste of trillions of dollars approved by our opponents has led to the inflationary disaster that Bitcoin supporters have been predicting. …

America will become the undisputed Bitcoin mining powerhouse in the world. You will become the Bitcoin mining powerhouse. You don’t have to move your family to China. We’re not moving to China…you’re not moving to China. As we perform, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will boost our economic growth, solidify America’s financial dominance, and strengthen our entire country for a long time to come. Many Americans don’t realize that the U.S. government is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin. Does anyone know? How? The federal government owns almost 210,000 Bitcoins, or 1% of the total supply. But for too long, our government has been violating the cardinal rule that every Bitcoin user knows by heart: Never sell your Bitcoin…

So as a final part of my program today, I am announcing that if I am elected, my administration, the United States of America, will adopt the following policy: 100% of all Bitcoin currently held or acquired by the U.S. government, we will retain 100%. I wish you all the best. This will actually become the core of the National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. … Most of the Bitcoin currently held by the U.S. government was acquired through law enforcement actions. You know they took it from you. Let’s take that person’s life. Let’s take his family, his house, his Bitcoin. We’re going to turn it into Bitcoin. It’s been taken from you because that’s where we’re going now. That’s where this country is going – a fascist regime. So as I take steps to transform this vast wealth into a permanent national asset for the benefit of all Americans…

Today, I reaffirm my commitment to commuting Ross Ulbricht's sentence to time already served. Enough is enough. …

Ultimately, my promise to each and every one of you is that I will be the pro-innovation and pro-Bitcoin president that America needs and that our citizens deserve. It will be one industry, but it will be a thriving industry, a great industry, and I will do the same for every other industry. Furthermore, our country has never prospered by trying to censor new ideas and stifle the dreams of its people. America has always planted our flag on the next frontier and moved forward boldly. We must do that. We haven't done that in a long time, especially in the last three and a half years. It's been the exact opposite. You in this room are the heirs of generations of American pioneers and patriots, risk takers and rebels who settled this continent and built the modern world of living on the frontier. You live on the frontier. You know the Bitcoiners, right? You are the modern-day Edisons, Wright brothers, Carnegies, and Henry Fords, and what you have done in your lifetime has the potential to outlive all of us and inspire future generations. This day will go down as a very important day in the history of your industry. You are coming together to build America's future with your wisdom, courage, and actions that are part of it. You are part of it, and that's what you are doing. It takes courage to do it. Most people don't have that courage. My job is to free you to do what Americans do best, to do what you will do better than anyone else. Win, win, win. You will win, win, win with an energy, passion, and talent that we rarely see. Our country will not fail. We are a failed country now, but we will not fail for long. Our country will not fail. With your help, we will save our country. We will restore the Republic, and we will make America and Bitcoin bigger, better, stronger, richer, freer, and greater than ever before. Thank you, everyone. Good luck with your Bitcoin, your cryptocurrencies, and everything else you are playing with, and we will make them one of the greatest industries on Earth. Good luck, and God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you.