$BTC

Former president Donald Trump reiterated his position that he hopes to make the U.S. “the world capital for crypto and bitcoin” in a speech on his economic policy on Thursday, although he didn’t offer any further details, nor did he even mention crypto again in his hourlong remarks.

“Instead of attacking industries of the future, we will embrace them, including making America the world capital for crypto and bitcoin,” Trump said in his speech at the Economic Club of New York. He prefaced those comments by saying that he would cut regulations broadly across several industries, pledging to cut 10 regulations for every one new regulation he enacts.

Ron Hammond, Director of Government Regulations at the Blockchain Association, a trade group, said he was encouraged that Trump mentioned crypto at all in his speech.

“Crypto even getting a small shoutout shows that it’s relevant,” Hammond said. “Even if it’s not a top 5 or top 10 issue, it’s arguably a top 20 issue.”

Hammond added that he didn’t expect the Trump campaign to issue any other specific policy recommendations on crypto before the election, unless they were in response to new Congressional activity or SEC actions.

Moe Vela, a senior advisor to Unicoin and a former advisor to Joe Biden when Biden was Vice President, said he also doesn’t expect to see any more specific policies from Trump before the election. But Vela said Trump’s vague and blustery comments are dangerous for the industry. “We already see what no regulation results in,” Vela said. “We have people [from the crypto industry] in prison because of it.”

Rather than discussing crypto, Trump instead focused on international economic competition, particularly with China; border security and the impact of illegal immigration on American jobs; and the importance of energy independence. Though Trump did not connect energy independence explicitly to crypto, he asserted that strong energy policies were critical for advancing American innovation, especially AI.