Regulation
GOP, Libertarian Politics at Play
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Unbranded – Noteworthy
The Bitcoin2024 conference kicked off Thursday at Nashville’s Music City Center, and attendees agreed: Cryptocurrency is politics.
With the current Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump to headline Saturday’s eventthe rest of the program is ready with GOP politicians, independents like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and some Democratic congressmen.
From Tennessee, US Senator Marsha Blackburn and Senator Bill Hagerty are scheduled to speak. Also leading the agenda are notorious government surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and celebrity Russell Brand, along with hundreds of speakers from the tech industry.
What prompted cryptocurrency industry legislators and insiders to rally in Nashville?
“Politicians follow the votes,” said Chris Kline, co-founder of BitcoinIRA. “That’s the same reason they’re making stops in key states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and even Nevada and Arizona. Bitcoin is no longer a niche interest group.”
There will also be several high profile fundraising events.
David Bailey, CEO of Nashville-based conference organizer BTC Media, the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine, announced Tuesday that the conference was “in talks” with Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign to schedule her as a speaker. A day later, he she said she declined the invitation and that “it would have been a disaster for her” anyway.
He then criticized Harris’ political record, writing on X: “A major Democratic donor told me that Kamala privately says ‘Bitcoin is money for criminals.'”
Some cryptocurrency industry professionals have said they view Bitcoin as inherently apolitical, but that is changing as calls for consistency in cryptocurrency regulation grow louder and gain more support from Republicans.
Earlier this year, Trump changed his mind his critical views on Bitcoin to embrace digital currencies. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden vetoed legislation which cryptocurrency industry leaders said would improve their ability to collaborate with traditional banks.
Across the nation, eyes are on the Nashville Bitcoin conference to see what progress will be made, whether any politicians will commit to creating a federal strategic reserve for Bitcoin, and whether any surprise tech billionaires will come to town.
Elon Musk, the Memphis-based founder of SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI, is rumored to take the stage at the conference.
Legislative proposals aimed at boosting the cryptocurrency’s profile are also expected to be discussed.
A Possible Federal Strategic Reserve of Bitcoin
Last week, reports spread through the cryptocurrency community that a federal strategic reserve of Bitcoin could soon become a possibility in the United States.
This would lead the federal government to purchase an unspecified number of Bitcoin units and hold them, in the same way the country holds the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“A strategic reserve of Bitcoin would mean that the United States is signaling to the rest of the world that we will make a diligent effort to hold Bitcoin as part of the Federal Reserve and Treasury balance sheet, but also that we will perhaps consider investing more in mining here in the United States,” Kline said.
Mining is the process of creating new Bitcoins and verifying transactions.
Dennis Porter, CEO of the Bitcoin educational nonprofit he said that the reserve proposal could come from TrumpAND Fox Business reported on Wednesday. that Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis plans to announce legislation to create a Bitcoin reserve this week.
Lummis is scheduled to speak in Nashville on Friday. His office did not respond to The Tennessean’s request for comment on Thursday.
Support from Elon Musk
Bailey, who heads the company hosting the Bitcoin conference, hinted at a surprise guest who could speak in Nashville this weekend.
Bailey’s posts on X about creating “more programming space” and “apologizing in advance for breaking the internet” have sparked speculation that tech billionaire Elon Musk may be in attendance. NFT news platform SolanaFloor also reported that Musk’s private plane landed in Memphis earlier this week.
Musk is a staunch supporter of cryptocurrency and, following the attempted assassination of Trump earlier this month, officially endorsed Trump for the 2024 election.
How Bitcoin Aligns With the GOP
The Bitcoin2024 crowd, made up of celebrities, influencers, and Republican and Libertarian politicians, has a clear partisan bias.
Several conference participants said Republicans were offering more favorable regulatory conditions.
“Bitcoin itself is a way of decoupling money into the state, and so it might align more with the Republican or conservative side in terms of the core values of taking that power away from the government and the ability to choose a new form of money,” said Quai Network co-founder Alan Orwick. “That’s where the lines are drawn.”
Others have pointed to the “hostile” environment with the Securities Exchange Commission noted over the past four years.
“We haven’t seen what Vice President Harris’s position is yet, but we assume it’s the same as the Biden administration, which has been very hostile, especially with SEC Chairman Gary Gensler,” CastleFunds President Peter Eberle said. “Unfortunately, some of the innovative companies have decided to locate overseas, where the regulatory environment is friendlier.”
Eberle said he believes a Republican administration would push for more accommodating cryptocurrency guidelines.
Hadley Hitson covers business trends, restaurants and healthcare for The Tennessean. She can be reached at e-mail: hhitson@gannett.comTo support his work, Subscribe to The Tennessean.