President Donald J. Trump took the stage in Nashville on Saturday and gave an impassioned speech to thousands of raucous attendees. This was a historic moment in the history of Bitcoin and potentially international finance. For the first time, a leading presidential candidate (apologies to RFK Jr., who spoke on Friday) gave a full-throated defense of crypto and Bitcoin.
The security to get into the event with two presidential candidates speaking was intense and with good cause. The attempted assassination of the GOP nominee hung in the air like an ominous cloud. Secret Service required journalists to arrive at 9 p.m. the evening before to drop off our bags and cameras in the auditorium. They tore apart our bags in the security line, and the agents scanned the journalists with the intense gaze of predators.
As Trump's speech approached, the crowd grew more restless and excited, and shouts of “Trump, Trump, Trump” began to fill the venue. The attendees were an intellectually and culturally diverse group of out-of-the-box thinkers who distrust most institutions, especially the central banks. After years of quantitative easing and printing money out of thin air, much of the fundamental critique Bitcoiners have leveled at the Fed has been borne out. Inflation is out of control, and Bitcoin presents a deflationary alternative to the fiat money supply.
There were rumors of RFK Jr. dropping out or Elon Musk introducing the president, but when the time came, it was just Trump who came on stage to a standing ovation. It’s hard to overstate what an incredible and historic moment this was. Bitcoin began as a very niche network that only a small corner of the internet understood or cared about. When I wrote my first magazine feature about it in
2014, it took hours to explain to the editors of a tech magazine what it even was.
For most of Bitcoin’s history, politicians viewed it with contempt or simply ignored it. Why get involved with some weird, fake internet currency that everyone predicted would collapse into oblivion? Unfortunately for the naysayers, the doom predictions never came true; even Donald Trump had tweeted about how he didn't trust it.
Instead, Bitcoin went on a growth curve never seen before in history. When COVID-19 struck and the price went to the moon, it was clear that the Bitcoin moment had arrived and it wasn’t going anywhere. Even with the explosive financial gains, politicians wanted to keep a safe distance. Undoubtedly, the Sam Bankman-Fried FTX debacle spooked people, although his con really had nothing to do with the fundamentals of Bitcoin.
Elizabeth Warren has been on a
one-woman warpath to regulate Bitcoin into oblivion, with most Democrats painting Bitcoin as some right-wing-adjacent scam. But on Friday and Saturday in Nashville, it was clear that Bitcoin was having a political moment and Republicans were ready to embrace it. Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bill Haggerty (R-Tenn.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) were all there to express their support. When Donald Trump finally walked out, a vibe shift occurred, and Bitcoin will probably never be viewed the same ever again.
He wasted no time in praising the crowd and the possibility that Bitcoin represents.
“You are the modern-day Edisons and Wright brothers and Carnegies and Henry Fords. And what you do in your lifetime stands a chance to outlive us all and inspire humanity for generations to come. This will go down as a very important day in the history of your industry,” Trump said to the crowd.
He also promised to fire Gary Gensler, the head of the SEC, and roll back the regulatory war
Biden’s administration has waged against Bitcoin.
“As president, I will immediately shut down Operation Choke Point 2.0. They want to choke you out of business. We're not going to let that happen. And no longer will your government sit by and watch as Bitcoin jobs and businesses move to other countries because America's laws are too unclear, too tough, too angry, and too stiff,” he explained to the crowd.
It’s clear Trump and the GOP were there to speak to the very wealthy people who have created this new industry. Regardless of why they were there, the change has occurred, and there will be no going back to the status quo. Bitcoin has arrived. How exactly it shakes up the American political landscape remains to be seen. President Trump ended with a call to rebuild our economy, as only he can say it.
“With your help, we will save our nation, we will restore our republic, and we will make America and Bitcoin bigger, better, stronger, richer, freer, and greater than ever before.”
