Author: Gareth Jenkinson, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
The Bitcoin 2024 conference kicks off on July 25 in Nashville, Tennessee, and is set to draw record crowds with high-profile speakers including Donald Trump, Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Russell Brand, and Edward Snowden.
The conference has generated a lot of attention in the weeks leading up to it as prominent politicians have joined the speaking lineup for the Nashville event.
Donald Trump was the headline speaker waving ads around Nashville.
Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. are two major draws, and other notable speakers include Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, and Cynthia Loomis.
Bitcoin and Lightning Network Still Hold Hope for Retail Banking
Lightspark Chief Strategy Officer Christian Catalini and Xapo Bank Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Regulation Joey Garcia revealed that Bitcoin and the Lightning Network will still have a significant impact on retail banking.
Chris Catalini of Lightspark, Joey Garcia of Xapo Bank, and Nolan Bauerle discuss the potential of Bitcoin in retail banking.
Catalini stressed that Bitcoin, from its inception, has enabled its users to seamlessly transfer value globally with “deep liquidity in over 200 countries, 24/7”:
“There is only one asset, and that is Bitcoin. It has regulatory clarity. It has an on-ramp and an off-ramp in almost every country around the world.”
BlackRock’s clients are mainly interested in BTC and ETH
In a conversation with Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, Michael Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, detailed the global asset manager’s move into the cryptocurrency space in 2024 with Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund products.
Bloomberg’s James Seyffart joined BlackRock’s Michael Mitchnick on the Nakamoto Main Stage.
“I would say that at the customer stage today, they are very interested in Bitcoin first. Of course, they are interested in Ethereum, but other than those two, there is almost no interest right now.”
Mitchnick added that direct investors led demand when the ETFs launched. Momentum is still building among BlackRock Wealth Advisory and institutional investors, according to the digital asset chief.
Large wealth advisory platforms such as Morgan Stanley, UBS and Merrill Lynch have not yet begun offering Bitcoin ETFs on a solicited basis, meaning they will only offer ETFs if clients request them.
Jimmy Song criticizes conference, focuses on TradFi and ETFs
Bitcoin developer and advocate Jimmy Song took a firm stance during a panel featuring MMA fighter Ben Askren, aptly titled “Make Bitcoin Great Again in America.”
The author criticizes the presence of traditional financial institutions such as BlackRock and the focus on banks, trading, and exchange-traded funds.
“The great thing about Bitcoin is freedom, autonomy, and self-sovereignty. Those are the things this country was built 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’re better than we are,” Song said.
He added that these insinuations represent the interests of a rent-seeking class and the administrative state, which run counter to the ideals of freedom, autonomy and self-sovereignty.
“This is what I hate about Bitcoin conferences. Banks, ETFs, BlackRock. These are not my values, not Bitcoin values, and not America’s values.”
2024: The first year Bitcoin goes mainstream - Michael Saylor
As the first day came to an end, Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor delivered a keynote speech at 19:00 US time on July 26 and participated in the live broadcast of the event.
The Bitcoin advocate said 2024 will be the “first year of mainstream institutional adoption of Bitcoin.” Since announcing Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset in August 2020, Saylor’s business intelligence firm has over 200,000 BTC.
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor attends the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville alongside Cointelegraph Accelerator’s Kyle White.
Saylor said he continues to receive calls from CEOs of public companies and institutions interested in the bitcoin-first investing approach that Saylor is pioneering.
Meanwhile, Saylor hinted that the presence of the two presidential candidates and other prominent U.S. senators could have a positive impact on Bitcoin.
“I think there’s going to be a tailwind for Bitcoin regardless. I really don’t see any future where any government doesn’t accept Bitcoin.”
Saylor added that it’s not a question of whether future governments “will support Bitcoin,” but rather how “aggressive they will be” and “whether they will move quickly or more cautiously.”
MicroStrategy’s CEO said the industry had passed a turning point in January 2024, when it became clear that Bitcoin had become an institutional-grade digital asset.
"As Larry Fink said, it has a place in every portfolio. It has huge global appeal. It's unique, and the world needs more assets like it."
