Categories: U.S. Regulation

Trump To Speak at Bitcoin 2024 Convention in Nashville

Axios, citing “two sources familiar with the matter,” reports that Trump is now in talks to speak at the Bitcoin (BTC) 2024 convention in Nashville next month.

It’s the culmination of a sharp turn for the former president, who used to be a crypto critic. In May 2018, while serving in the Oval Office, he reportedly directed then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after Bitcoin [for fraud].”

Three years later, Trump said in an interview that he owned zero cryptocurrencies, arguing that digital assets were “a disaster waiting to happen.” The former president has since changed course, however, spending the past couple of years gradually warming up to the sector in a bid to raise funds for the upcoming election and differentiate himself from the Biden Administration, which some crypto stakeholders view as hostile towards digital assets.

In December 2022, Trump launched a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum (ETH)-based platform OpenSea, weeks after formally announcing his intention to run for the 2024 presidential election. On the campaign trail this year, the former president has said he will “end Joe Biden’s war on crypto” and be “the crypto president.”

His 2024 presidential campaign has also started accepting crypto donations, receiving $2 million worth of Bitcoin from Gemini crypto exchange co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

The Bitcoin 2024 conference is scheduled for July 25th-27th. Slated speakers include fellow 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden, among others.

In May, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Terron Gold