Donald Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 Nashville Conference but, to be honest, what he said was largely predictable.
Even so, I thought it’d certainly be interesting, and relevant to us, to summarise what he said.
US will become crypto hub, and will hold on BTC it already owns
Trump wants the US to become the global crypto hub, a role that, at the minute, is probably shared by several nation states globally. Although, if you asked 100 people, probably 80 percent would tell you Dubai is the de-facto crypto global hub.
Trump wants the US to hold that particular title and, equally important, he said the US government will not sell the BTC it already holds.
Ross Ulbricht’s sentence
If you look at this laterally, this is probably the most interesting thing he said, simply because it was the only one that wasn’t expected.
Trump said he will commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s sentence.
This is important because he said commute, not pardon.
In other words, this stance on the matter would imply that Ulbricht is still deemed guilty of a crime, but it would also imply that his sentence was too harsh, and he’s served more than his fair share of time and would be eligible for release.
“Fire Gensler on day one”
Just like some of the other things he said, this is easier than said than done, and it’s just something he said to get crypto fans going.
In reality, the US President cannot fire the appointed Commissioners, including the Chair. This is by design, a provision that was made to ensure the independence of the SEC.
Trump wouldn’t be able to fire him directly, and he’d have to make a pretty strong case to make Gary Gensler go.
But in fairness, with Trump at the helm, Gary Gensler would almost certainly be a lot quieter, because even though the US President can’t fire him directly, he can certainly apply a lot of pressure to make sure the SEC goes in the direction the President wants it to go.
Gensler, for reference, will retain his position until 2026.
Conclusion
We should always bear in mind that politicians don’t believe in much other than themselves. Trump used to be a vocal critic of BTC, so if he said these things now, it’s probably because he knows he can get votes from ‘crypto bros’, a portion of the population that’s getting larger by the day.
It’s also important to remember that no politician, not even the US President, has the power to make or break crypto.
They can slow it down or accelerate adoption, but in a long-term scenario, crypto will run its own course regardless
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