Former US President Donald Trump has been announced as a speaker at the upcoming Bitcoin 2024 conference, which is touted as the largest gathering of Bitcoin faithful in the US.Scheduled for the tail end of July, the three-day conference features the current Republican presidential candidate as the event’s headliner amid a pool of impressive speakers. The conference organizers confirmed his attendance via a post on their website, citing his support for the cryptocurrency in early 2024 as a reason for his appearance.
“Trump announced his support for the American Bitcoin industry in May 2024, advocating for financial freedom and the growth of the US Bitcoin Industry on the global stage,” read a post on the conference’s website.
Since the announcement, Bitcoin’s ecosystem has been rippling with excitement, with pundits predicting that Trump’s keynote speech at the conference could be a cannon event for the asset.
Other speakers at the event include political commentator Russel Brand, ARK CEO Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, and independent Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy.
Trump has been leaning toward cryptocurrencies in recent months after eyeing the asset class with a measure of skepticism for several years. Rather than an all-out embrace of digital assets, the former president is pitching his tent with the largest of the lot – Bitcoin (BTC), singling out its decentralized nature for stiffening his resolve.
The presidential hopeful has made public his desire to support BTC as an alternative to the central bank digital currency (CBDC), garnering the support of local Bitcoin mining firms along the way. Mining executives, including several cryptocurrency CEOs, have raised funds in support of Trump’s campaign in the hopes of steering a favorable government stance toward the industry.
The executives are banking on several gentlemanly promises made by Trump, including robust government support for miners and regulatory clarity for the broader industry.
Biden’s government has since been criticized by industry players for stifling innovation and encouraging capital and talent flight to other jurisdictions. They point to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) long-running battles with Ripple Labs and other industry heavyweights as proof of a “witch hunt,” but the government says it will proceed with a conservative approach.
“Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left,” said Trump. “We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be made in the USA! It will help us to be Energy Dominant.”
