Author: Gyro Finance
This year's Bitcoin conference was extremely lively.
Well-known politicians, investment institutions, and giant companies gathered in Nashville, the ancient traditional cultural center of the United States, and started a war of words over the emerging things of Bitcoin and encryption. In the mainland, it is almost impossible for spectators to see so many important politicians or even presidential candidates appearing at a conference organized by a private organization to make speeches and canvass for votes, but in the United States, a real power house of cards is being played out.
The core reason is that in today's complex and turbid American political arena, Bitcoin and the more generalized encryption field have been inadvertently caught in the center of the storm under the election ecology, and the Bitcoin conference has become a portal for supporters of the encryption party to hold high the banner of their stance and attack their competitors. The increase in holdings to 1 million coins, the establishment of the encryption capital, and the national asset reserve, all kinds of favorable factors have emerged frequently, which have excited the hearts of encryption practitioners.
On the other hand, whether the politicians' wavering positions are credible has also triggered discussions among industry insiders. Barron's has previously directly published an article saying that it is "just a means of campaign fundraising." This is indeed the case. This trend has already appeared before the conference. Taking Trump's special events with clear price tags as an example, VIP reception, roundtable meetings and photos with Trump cost $844,600 per person, and $60,000 per person excluding roundtable meetings. There is also a 13% discount for two people traveling together. In order to cater to the theme, payment also supports cryptocurrency. In this regard, it seems that a roundtable with the former president is not as expensive as a lunch with Buffett.
In this context, this much-anticipated Trump speech was described by foreign media as the most direct means of canvassing votes, but it was criticized by the crypto industry because it mentioned too few direct and feasible means and too many political jargons. After all, both asset reserves and the title of the crypto capital require a series of long-term legislative guarantees, rather than random empty promises.
Because of this, the crypto market also behaved quite calmly. From the beginning to the end of the conference, Bitcoin basically stabilized at around US$68,000, and the forward positive factors did not seem to have a significant impact on market decisions.
However, as a meeting point for crypto information in various fields, this Bitcoin Conference has officially kicked off the crypto currency election wave and still has a unique and prominent position. In this regard, Gyro Finance has compiled some of the views at the conference for your convenience.
01 Politicians are eager to express their stance and fight for encryption
Trump: Will remove the current SEC chairman and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve
As for Trump, his speech at the conference can be divided into three categories: boasting about his achievements in office, secretly criticizing the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, and supporting the crypto industry. Leaving aside the other two categories, in the direction of the crypto industry, he mainly mentioned changes in the regulatory direction and the national reserve of Bitcoin. Some of his statements are as follows:
“Kamala Harris is a far leftist and, by the way, is against cryptocurrency. The Biden-Harris administration’s crackdown on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin is wrong and very bad for our country. On my first day in office, I will fire Gary Gensler (current SEC Chairman) and appoint a new SEC Chairman who believes that America should build the future, not hinder it.
When I am President of the United States again, there will never be a CBDC, and we will create a framework to enable the security and scalability of stablecoins. This will expand the dominance of the dollar, America will be richer, the world will be a better place, and billions of people will be brought into the crypto economy and put their savings in Bitcoin.
With low energy costs, the United States will become the world's recognized Bitcoin mining powerhouse. You will become a Bitcoin mining powerhouse. You don't have to move your family to China. You won't move to China.
Bitcoin is not a threat to the dollar, the current U.S. government is a threat to the dollar. The threat to the dollar does not come from cryptocurrency, but from Washington, D.C. The U.S. government is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin. The federal government owns nearly 210,000 Bitcoins, 1% of the total supply. But the U.S. government has long violated the basic principle that every Bitcoin enthusiast knows: HODL.
I am declaring that, if I am elected, the United States will reserve 100% of all Bitcoin currently held or acquired in the future, which will effectively serve as the core of a strategic national Bitcoin reserve.
Ultimately, my promise to everyone is this: I will be the pro-innovation, pro-Bitcoin president that America needs and that our citizens deserve.”
If you are interested in reading the full article, here is the link: https://www.tuoluo.cn/article/detail-10114550.html
US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.: If elected, he will instruct the US Treasury to increase its holdings of Bitcoin to 4 million
Compared with Trump, Robert Kennedy Jr.'s move is more practical. He promised that after taking office, he will issue three executive orders to support the encryption field.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Marshals Service will be instructed to transfer approximately 200,000 bitcoins held by the U.S. government to the Treasury Department to be held as a strategic asset.
Instruct the U.S. Treasury to buy 550 bitcoins per day until the U.S. reserves reach 4 million BTC. There are currently about 21 million bitcoins in circulation. "Our country holds about 19% of the world's gold reserves. This policy will allow us to acquire about the same proportion of Bitcoin. This chain reaction and these actions will eventually put Bitcoin's valuation in the hundreds of trillions of dollars."
Instructs the IRS to issue guidance that all transactions between Bitcoin and U.S. dollars are non-reportable transactions and therefore not taxable.
Rep. Willie Nicoll (D-NC): Democrats urge Harris campaign to 'reset' cryptocurrency stance
Vice President Kamala Harris understands cryptocurrencies and may make them an issue in her nascent White House campaign. We had a complete reset on the presidential election, and we have been working to get the Vice President to restart it. The future must be bipartisan; if we politicize crypto, we will only poison Congress for a decade.
Senator Lummis: Proposes US to buy 1 million Bitcoins to reduce national debt
“Bitcoin is a great store of value. It’s been up about 55% per year over the last four years or so. Over that same period, the dollar has depreciated and we’ve seen inflation go up, so I think there’s value in having a hard asset that’s backed by the dollar and is growing in value rather than going down.”
In response, it has proposed introducing a bill next week that would instruct the U.S. Treasury to purchase 1 million bitcoins (worth about $68 billion at current prices) over five years.
Congressman Ro Khanna: I hope the United States will become a leader in Bitcoin
Ro Khanna said he wants the United States to become a leader in the Bitcoin space so that the country can benefit from the asset's appreciation. The United States should set financial standards in the market, reiterating the cryptocurrency executive's view that there should be greater bipartisan cooperation in supporting cryptocurrency regulation.
It pointed out that the United States is a financial leader, but without proper rules and innovation, the country will lose its leadership, emphasizing the quality of assets. "The United States should not be satisfied with the status quo. We have the best financial system in the world, so sometimes we don't realize the importance of Bitcoin in other parts of the world... If we don't have Bitcoin, if we don't have cryptocurrency, we will lose our leadership in financial innovation in the 21st century. Why should we do this?"
02 Institutions are more concerned with practical interests
Different from the clear political stance, Wall Street institutions focus on more practical interests. Most of the financial institutions that come here hold positive expectations for the future of crypto assets, make optimistic remarks or plan to take relevant measures to enter this track. Among them, MicroStrategy's remarks are the most radical.
Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor: 2024 is the first year of mainstream adoption of Bitcoin, and BTC will reach $49 million in the future
In his speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Saylor compared cryptocurrencies to physical assets, saying they can last a thousand years, but the average person can only last 50 to 75 years at most. Bitcoin, however, is "immortal, immutable, and immaterial" and is the solution to "our economic woes."
In addition, Saylor also released an infographic showing the price and market value of Bitcoin in 21 years, divided into three scenarios: bear market, baseline and bull market. In the bull market scenario, the market value of Bitcoin is $103 trillion and the price of each Bitcoin is $49 million. Meanwhile, the baseline scenario will see the price of Bitcoin reach $13 million and the market value reach $280 trillion.
“You finance the purchase of a house with Bitcoin, you buy Bitcoin, you convert all your assets into Bitcoin, and then you move to a tax-cheap jurisdiction where you can avoid some of the taxes and invest an additional fifty thousand dollars in Bitcoin.”
Howard Lutnick, CEO of Wall Street Cantor Fitzgerald: Plans to launch Bitcoin financing business with $2 billion in initial financing
Cantor Fitzgerald has arranged and financed a wide range of securities and commodities, and as a strong supporter of Bitcoin, will now build an incredible platform to support the financing needs of Bitcoin investors.
“I personally own Bitcoin, and Cantor Fitzgerald also owns a large amount of Bitcoin. Bitcoin should be freely traded around the world like gold. As the world’s largest wholesaler, we will do everything we can to make this happen.”
The business will start with $2 billion in initial funding and increase in $2 billion increments.
Skybridge founder Anthony Scaramucci: Bitcoin market value will surpass gold
“It’s an asset class, so it shouldn’t be comparable to the market cap of NVIDIA or Apple. It has to be comparable to the market cap of gold, and I think it’s better than gold, and by 2025, asset managers may be discussing tactical asset allocation models for all institutional investors with a goal of increasing their exposure to Bitcoin by 1% to 3%.”
Michael Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock: Clients are only interested in BTC and ETH
“I would say that in terms of the client phase we have today, their interest in Bitcoin first is overwhelmingly high. Of course, they are also interested in Ethereum, but outside of those two currencies, there is almost no interest right now. Currently, BlackRock registered independent advisors currently allocate about 2-3% of their funds to Bitcoin ETFs, and large wealth advisory platforms such as Morgan Stanley, UBS and Merrill Lynch have not yet started offering Bitcoin ETFs on a solicited basis, meaning they will only offer ETFs when clients request them.”
03 Criticisms
In addition to politicians and institutions, there are also people who are dissatisfied with the current politicization and institutionalization of the crypto ecosystem. Critics believe that the political tendency is too prominent and the essence of Bitcoin is lost. Technical personnel react most obviously to this.
Jimmy Song: I hate meeting topics and my values are distorted
“The great thing about Bitcoin is freedom, autonomy, and self-sovereignty. Those are the things this country was founded on. Unfortunately, because of money, because of the power of the printing press, what we get is an administrative state that rules over us and thinks they are better than we are.
I hate the topics discussed at Bitcoin conferences, banks, ETFs, BlackRock. These are not my values, not Bitcoin values, and not American values, and this represents the interests of the rent-seeking class and the administrative state, contrary to the ideals of freedom, autonomy, and self-sovereignty. "
Edward Snowden: Vote, but don’t blindly follow political ideology, pay attention to Bitcoin privacy issues
“Many lawmakers are trying to win over Bitcoin users, but they are not our group. They are not your personality. They have their own interests, their own values, their own pursuits. Try to get what you need from them, but don’t give yourself to them, even if you have to vote for them.”
Additionally, be wary of privacy issues. Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous and can be traced back to individuals, which poses a risk to personal privacy. Despite a common misconception that Bitcoin transfers offer complete anonymity, Snowden clarified that most transactions can be linked through various entry and exit points, such as exchanges that meet regulatory requirements. This connection makes it possible to trace transaction histories, which could reveal sensitive information about users' lives and relationships.
