Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin Conference on July 27th despite previously saying the cryptocurrency is a “scam.” BTC Inc. CEO and organizer of the Bitcoin Conference David Bailey joins Asking for a Trend to discuss the conference and Trump’s pivot on bitcoin (BTC-USD).
“We’re thrilled to have the president speaking in what is going to be a historic speech on bitcoin policy and his agenda as of the new administration. We’ve been working with the Trump campaign for several months, advising them on different policy platform items that our industry cares about, our community cares about, and really helping lay the case for the amount of votes and the amount of dollars that our industry can deliver for the campaign… Donald Trump is a businessman first and foremost, and he sees a good opportunity. And bitcoin is the greatest opportunity for this country,” Bailey explains.
He notes that many in the cryptocurrency industry are single-issue voters, and with Trump backing bitcoin, he has gained much of the industry’s support. He adds, “the way the Biden administration has treated the bitcoin and crypto community has been horrendous… they’ve suggested tax regimes for our industry that if implemented would devastate the American bitcoin industry, they’ve targeted bitcoin miners claiming that they are fundamentally dangerous to the environment when in fact, bitcoin miners are investing billions of dollars into America’s infrastructure and energy infrastructure. The list goes on.”
Bailey stresses that “bitcoin is bipartisan,” and that the industry is “going to defend itself” from attacks. By aligning with Donald Trump, he claims that the industry is “going to send a message to the Democratic party that that they’re on the wrong side of this issue. And that it would be much more productive for them to work with our industry rather than to banish our industry. There are over 50 million Americans that own bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. That is a massive voter bloc. And there used to be an old political adage that people vote their pocketbook. Bitcoin is people’s pocketbooks today. So the Democratic Party is misaligned with the public.”
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Video Transcript
Donald Trump affirmed that he will speak as scheduled at a Bitcoin conference coming up later this month.
That’s after an assassination attempt over the weekend.
But the former president’s support of Cryptocurrency is relatively new.
Trump was previously deemed it a scam when he was in the White House.
But now the 2024 hopefully is singing a very different tune.
Thanks to the efforts of crypto industry insiders and join me now is David Bailey BT C in C CEO and organizer of the Bitcoin Conference.
David.
It is good to have you back on the show.
So Trump’s gonna be participating in the Bitcoin Conference.
Uh David, that’s July 27th.
How did that come about, David?
Well, first off Josh, thank you for having me back on the show.
And yeah, we’re thrilled to have the president speaking in what is going to be a historic speech on, on Bitcoin policy um and his, his agenda uh as of the new administration, uh We’ve been working with the Trump campaign for several months uh advising them on uh different policy uh platform items that our industry cares about our community cares about and really helping lay the case for the amount of votes and the amount of dollars that our industry can deliver for the campaign.
So, um we’ve been very thankful for their support.
Um Donald Trump is a, is a businessman first and foremost and he sees a good opportunity and Bitcoin is the greatest opportunity for this country.
So, uh uh we’re, we’re very thankful to be partnered with him and David, you know, we know there.
Um Trump wasn’t always a fan of crypto, what changed there, David?
Is it, is it what you suggested there or is it just, you know, has it come down to dollars and votes?
Yeah, I mean, I think uh for most people, they don’t start as a fan of Bitcoin.
Most people when they hear about Bitcoin, they think it’s a scam.
Uh That’s how I got started in Bitcoin.
That’s how Michael Saylor got started in Bitcoin.
In fact, Michael Saylor’s first tweet uh uh on the topic is, you know, once the government figures this out, they’re going to shut this down.
So, uh I think, you know, the biggest advocate bits of Bitcoin start as the biggest skeptics.
And then, you know, they go through uh a journey where they come to understand the technology better, they come to interact with it more and eventually what seems like a scam at first uh uh eventually kind of uh hits home as, as fundamentally uh uh uh innovation that’s transformative.
And David I, I know you’re a fan of Trump and from what I’ve read, um, you’re gonna be hosting a fundraiser forum in Nashville.
Any concern though, David that, you know, we’re sitting here in July and Trump and Vance don’t win in November.
That Biden does any worries.
You would have that, you know, maybe you put all your eggs here in one political basket.
Well, we are running a fundraiser for the president in Nashville.
We want it to be a record breaking fundraiser.
So we are working around the clock.
I’ve, I’ve been on phone calls all day for about two weeks straight, raising money for the president.
Um So we are, we are eager to show him what our industry is able to deliver and show him how much we care about this topic.
Um You know, our industry considers ourselves single issue voters, meaning that, you know, your policy on Bitcoin is what’s gonna determine how we show up to the ballot box.
Uh Your question about, you know, are we worried about putting all of our eggs in one basket?
You know, the way the Biden administration has treated the Bitcoin and crypto community has been horrendous.
Um And what do you, what do you mean by that, David?
When you say horrendous, uh they have uh had the sec give um awful guidance uh uh jail or prosecute uh legitimate businessmen and entrepreneurs that are trying to build great technology businesses in the United States, they’ve suggested um a tax regime for our industry that if implemented would, would devastate the American Bitcoin industry.
Um They’ve targeted Bitcoin miners claiming that, you know, they are fundamentally uh dangerous to the environment when in fact, Bitcoin miners are investing billions of dollars into America’s infrastructure and energy infrastructure.
Um The, the list goes on and the president actually just vetoed a bill that would have given us financial institutions the ability to custody digital assets on their balance sheet.
And so, you know, uh uh he, he’s, he’s holding back the, the, the our industry in the United States and he’s giving other nations a, a massive competitive advantage over um the state.
So just to, just to, just to this, to play devil’s advocate, um could someone counter and give me, give me your take on this.
But at the end of the day, you know, spot Bitcoin ETF S got the green light.
Reportedly, you probably saw this David, you know, spot Ether ETF S are on the way.
What do you say to that?
We had to sue the SEC and, and do a multiyear fight against the SEC to get there.
The, the spot ETF S should have been approved five years ago.
So, you know, if there, if there is one thing I would, I would say, I wish Trump had done differently in his last administration, he should approve the spot ETF S. And so, um it’s been a nonstop fist fight with the Biden administration.
And so frankly, at this point, we feel like we don’t have much to lose.
Um And what we hope is that by showing up for um the Trump administration and, and let me be clear, Bitcoin is, is bipartisan.
Bitcoin is a technology, it’s a tool.
Um You know, it, it does not have a political leaning or a prescribed political faction.
Um But, uh uh I, I if, if you’re gonna come after our industry, then, you know, our industry is going to defend itself.
And so what we hope is that uh by showing up big for the uh President Trump, by helping him win the White House, we’re gonna send a message to the Democratic Party that, that they’re on the wrong side of this issue and that it would be much for productive for the, to work with our industry rather than to banish our industry.
You know, there are over 50 million Americans that own Bitcoin and other crypto cryptocurrencies that is a massive voter block.
And there used to be an old political adage that people vote their, their pocketbook.
Bitcoin is people’s pocketbooks today.
So the Democratic Party is, is aligned with the public and we’re hoping that by, you know, making ourselves heard um in this election, uh we’ll make ourselves heard in, in all the future elections as well.
It is impressive, David, uh the way crypto has become an issue in this campaign in this, in this election.
We always appreciate you coming on the show, David.
Thanks so much.
Thank you for having me.
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