Former US President Donald Trump said that if he returns to the White House, he will ensure that the federal government never sells its holdings of bitcoin. However, he did not propose the establishment of a formal digital currency Federal Reserve.

On Saturday afternoon local time, Trump, speaking at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, said, "For a long time, our government has violated the basic rule that every Bitcoin holder knows by heart: never sell your Bitcoin."

As Trump expressed the above mentioned remarks, competing for US front-running financial technology adopters votes and campaign funds became the central issue of the 2024 US presidential election.

"I have formulated my plan this afternoon to ensure that the United States becomes the capital of cryptocurrency on earth and the superpower of Bitcoin in the world, and we will do it," Trump said.

However, compared with other proposals at the conference, Trump only promised to maintain the current holding of bitcoin by the US government, which is less radical publicity for the cryptocurrency community.

For example, independent US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy pledged in the Bitcoin Conference last Friday to launch a reserve of 4 million bitcoins, first including bitcoins seized from criminal cases by the US government. Kennedy said he would ask the government to buy 550 bitcoins per day until the reserve reaches 4 million bitcoins.

Shortly after Trump's speech, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming announced her own legislative proposal to accumulate 1 million bitcoins in the US federal reserve within five years.

"It will be held for at least 20 years and can be used for one purpose: to reduce our debt," Lummis said.

During the entire speech, Trump tried to contrast the Republican Party's increasingly accepting cryptocurrency with the Biden administration's tough regulatory approach.

"The suppression of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin by the Biden-Harris administration is wrong and very detrimental to our country," Trump said. "Let me tell you, if they win this election, every one of you is going to be leaving. They will be vicious. They will be ruthless. They will do things that you wouldn't believe."

Trump then listed a series of cryptocurrency-friendly promises to a cheering crowd of Bitcoin supporters, vowing to destroy the Biden-Harris' "anti-cryptocurrency movement."

Trump said: "On the first day, I will fire Gary Gensler." Gensler is the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appointed by Biden, and he has taken a radical attitude towards cryptocurrency regulation.

But the US president has no power to fire appointed commissioners. Even if Trump appointed a new SEC chairman, Gensler would still be a member of the independent agency.

The former president also promised to create a "Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Presidential Advisory Council."

"The rules will be made by people who love your industry, not by people who hate your industry," Trump said.

As the Bitcoin industry increasingly seeks support from the Trump camp, Bitcoin Magazine's CEO David Bailey, who organized the 2024 Bitcoin Conference, promised to raise $0.1 billion for Trump's campaign and mobilize more than 5 million voters in June of this year.

The Republican presidential candidate held a fundraiser in Nashville, where tickets were sold for up to $0.8446 million.

Trump makes a U-turn of 180 degrees.

Trump has made several recent comments in support of the cryptocurrency industry, including accepting virtual token donations, promising to end Biden's "cryptocurrency war," and calling for all future bitcoins to be made in America. This is also a big turn for the Republican presidential candidate.

During his time in the White House, Trump dismissed Bitcoin. In July 2019, he said he was "not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies." He claimed that these tokens are not money and their value is "based on thin air," and warned that unregulated crypto assets could facilitate drug trade and "other illegal activities."

"Bitcoin looks like a scam," he said in a 2021 interview. "I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar."

"I want the dollar to be the currency of the world," Trump continued in the interview.

After a failed presidential election and receiving millions of dollars from cryptocurrency lobbying groups, the Republican presidential candidate praised this digital currency at this year’s Bitcoin conference.

In his keynote speech, Trump said, "Bitcoin represents freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government coercion and control."

The Politicization of Cryptocurrency.

As Trump's attitude towards Bitcoin shifts, the Republican Party promises to cut through the red tape of the Biden-Harris administration and try to make cryptocurrency regulation a voting issue in the November election, especially as inflation has been the top concern of voters in opinion polls.

As cryptocurrency lobbyists and supporters gain influence in Washington, people are beginning to speculate whether the Democrats will stick to their hard-line regulatory approach of the past few years or soften their stance.

"Every presidential candidate needs to understand that the voters who support digital asset innovation will always exist," said North Carolina Democratic Congressman Willie Nickell, adding that crypto regulation should not be a "partisan political football."

"I would like to see it as a bipartisan issue. I don't want Donald Trump to politicize it," Nickell said.

California Democratic congressman Ro Khanna agrees with Nickell's view, saying that cryptocurrency should not be the focus of partisan debate, but should be regulated like any other technology.

Khanna said, "I really don't understand why this is a partisan issue. Opposing Bitcoin is like opposing phones, opposing artificial intelligence, opposing laptops. This is a technology. It should be thoughtfully regulated."

Khanna and Nickell are the only two Democrats attending the Bitcoin conference.

Organizers of the 2024 Bitcoin conference said they briefly discussed inviting Vice President Kamala Harris to attend, but she ultimately declined. It is understood that the current US President Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential campaign and supported the nomination of Vice President Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate under strong internal pressure from the Democratic Party on July 21.

"I think we'll hear Vice President Harris's view on this soon. I'm very optimistic that we'll start anew. I think this is going to have a major impact," Nickell said. "This issue is not going to move forward. We have to make sure that we continue to accept this in a bipartisan way."

It is reported that Harris's team has begun to contact people who have close ties with cryptocurrency companies to arrange meetings.

As of the time of publication, bitcoin short-term rose by $1445, and the latest report is $69455 per coin.

Editor/new