Trump to Speak at Bitcoin Conference in Nashville

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the upcoming Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tenn., later this month, conference organizers announced Wednesday. “Witness history,” reads the headline on the conference website.

The presumptive Republican party nominee for U.S. president is joining a program that already included independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

Trump appearance at the largest Bitcoin conference is the latest move by his campaign to woo the Bitcoin faithful and turn their enthusiasm into votes in November.

In May, the Trump campaign began accepting crypto donations, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Solana, making good on a promise he made to Trump NFT holders during an event at Mar-a-Lago. That gathering was seen by many as a turning point for the national crypto policy debate.

Learning that Trump has begun accepting Bitcoin, rival candidate Kennedy said that he was “delighted” that Trump has had a change of heart regarding Bitcoin.

“My supporters, if I'm not in the race, will vote for President Trump,” Kennedy said in May, citing polling conducted by his team that shows he beats both major party candidates in a theoretical head-to-head race. “There's no condition in which President Biden can win.”

Bitcoin has become a partisan issue in the U.S. On Monday, the Republican Party pledged to protect Bitcoin and end what it called the “un-American crypto crackdown” by the Biden administration in its draft policy platform.

“We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their digital assets and transact free from government surveillance and control,” the platform read.

Other politicians joining Trump and Kennedy at Bitcoin 2024 include former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Tennessee Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

"Crypto innovators and others in the technology sector are under attack from Biden and Democrats,” Trump campaign senior advisor Brian Hughes previously told Decrypt. “While Biden stifles innovation with more regulation and higher taxes, President Trump is ready to encourage American leadership in this and other emerging technologies.”

While Trump has in the past spoken out against Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, calling it “highly volatile and based on thin air,” his recent change of heart has galvanized the crypto community, including the co-founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who last month announced donating $2 million in Bitcoin to the Trump campaign.

The conference agenda has not yet been updated to specify when Trump will speak over the event's three day program, running from July 25–27 at Nashville's Music City Center.

The program also includes keynotes from Michael Saylor on Friday and Edward Snowden on Saturday. Kennedy is being featured in a fireside chat on Friday.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.