Full text of Trump's speech at the Bitcoin conference: If elected, he will not sell any Bitcoin and will keep it as a strategic reserve, and he will also fire Gary Gensler

Original Author: JK, Odaily Planet Daily

The 2024 Nashville Bitcoin Conference welcomed its most heavyweight speaker, former President Donald Trump. Trump delivered an exciting speech on-site, outlining his vision for the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, speaking for a full 40 minutes, reflecting on his achievements during his term, and proposing a series of policies and plans aimed at making the U.S. a global cryptocurrency hub, including establishing a government Bitcoin reserve and appointing a cryptocurrency committee.

Here is the full text of Trump's ten-thousand-word speech at the Nashville Bitcoin Conference 2024, compiled by Odaily Planet Daily:

Our country is very fortunate to have the extraordinary talents, energy, and gifts of all of you representatives present here. It’s truly remarkable. Genius.

Not everyone, but many of you here. This spirit is what builds America, and it will help us make America great again. Standing before you today, I am filled with respect and admiration for the achievements of the Bitcoin community.

Incredible. Really. I often tell my sons that it’s unbelievable because they know a lot about Bitcoin. Their understanding of it far exceeds that of those who are a bit older. I say it’s like the steel industry 100 years ago. It really is. I feel like you are still in the early stages. I can see it all happening. In just 15 years, Bitcoin has transformed from an anonymous idea posted on an internet message board into the ninth most valuable asset in the world. Can you believe that? Right? That’s a big deal. Think about it, it’s already bigger than ExxonMobil. Soon it will surpass the entire silver market’s market cap. There’s a goal, indeed. One day, it might even surpass gold. At the current rate, that’s entirely possible. There has never been anything like this in the world. I think you’ve never seen anything like this either. Most people have no idea what it is. But you do.

Right?

So, what will happen when they understand? That will be very interesting. Bitcoin is not just a technological marvel, you know, it’s also a miracle of cooperation and human achievement. Many relationships have been built in this process, and a good friendship has formed in roundtable meetings with many leaders. Very interesting. Clearly, there is competition, but there are also many relationships and friendships among people. I’ve noticed this. I usually don’t see this; I usually see the opposite.

They want to take each other down. These people have a good sense. And they are very smart. Congratulations on all your achievements. This room is truly amazing. The people here are all high-IQ individuals. I’m competing against a low-IQ person (Odaily note: referring to Harris). I’m not joking. She’s a low-IQ person.

The reason I’m here today to address the Bitcoin community can be summed up in simple words: America first. Because if we don’t do it, China will, and other countries will too. Let’s do it, and let’s do it right.

My vision is for America to dominate the future. We have the best economy and the highest standard of living. China is trying to dominate, and they have made too much progress. And we want them to succeed; we want China to succeed. But we must be the most successful. It’s important that we lead and set the standard.

What will happen?

I hope America will lead in technology, science, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence. My uncle, Dr. John Trump, is a professor at MIT. He’s very suited to be with all of you, and that’s why I mention him. He is one of the longest-serving professors in MIT’s history. Our family is very smart; he has three different degrees. They invited him to stay on as a professor, and he did so for 41 years. When I was in the White House, the president of MIT gave me a book about my uncle. He is a legend in academia and at MIT. So I know a lot about your work, and I have great respect for high-IQ individuals like you.

America’s destiny is to lead our competitors and never hand over our industries. Some of you are involved in artificial intelligence, but you also need something called electricity. Artificial intelligence requires a lot of electricity. China can do this more easily because we have environmental impact reports to do, but we will do things that no one thinks are possible. You need a lot of electricity, double what we currently have in the U.S., to dominate. We will do it. We will generate power in an environmentally friendly way using fossil fuels and nuclear energy. We will create so much electricity that you will say, "Please, Mr. President, we don’t need more electricity."

In the Midwest, they just opened charging stations for electric vehicles. You know, I really like Elon. He’s great. He supports me, and that’s great support. But not everyone has to have an electric vehicle. I told him that. So we will eliminate that mandate. Some people like gasoline cars, some like hybrids, and some like electric cars. They’re all good. I think what Elon is doing is great, and he understands. If he didn’t understand, he probably wouldn’t support me.

But they built these charging stations in the Midwest. There are eight of them, costing $9 billion to build. At this rate, building charging stations nationwide will cost about $12 trillion. If these charging stations stop working, the country will have to file for bankruptcy protection. We must use our brains; we must be the party of common sense.

Okay?

We must have common sense. But we do need to produce a lot of electricity to support artificial intelligence and everything you are doing. We will produce it. We will be able to compete with China and other countries. So we will produce it.

This afternoon, I will detail my plan to ensure that America becomes the global capital of cryptocurrency and the superpower of Bitcoin in the world. We will achieve this goal. If cryptocurrency is to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted, and produced in America, not elsewhere. If Bitcoin is to "moon" as we say, I want America to lead that trend. It will happen. You will be very pleased with me; you will be very happy.

That’s why I am proud to be the first major party candidate in American history to accept Bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations. And I want to tell you, they donated a lot, and I am grateful. Since we announced this on May 21, we have raised $25 billion, a significant portion of which is in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and other forms of assets.

But as you know, our excitement about the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is in stark contrast to our opponents’ approach. They take the old way. And we are taking the middle road. In campaigning, we are different from others. We understand it, and they don’t. They are hindering your path.

I’ve made your lives much easier because the SEC has been very tough on you. Now that they see you supporting me, suddenly those who were once under investigation are no longer facing the same scrutiny. So please say, "Thank you, President Trump."

They do this because I’ve heard some of your great geniuses talk to me about this topic. I heard Vivek say that 175 million people are involved in this world of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin in some form. One hundred seventy-five million. When they hear that number, they say, "At least be nice to them before the election."

So I’ve relieved a lot of pressure from many people. Many who are very happy today were not so happy three months ago.

In the past three and a half years, the current administration has waged an unprecedented war on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. For those not in this industry, they targeted your banks, cutting off your financial services. Has anyone seen this happen? Yes, they have. They’ve stopped ordinary Americans from transferring money to your exchanges. They’ve slandered us as criminals. I’ve experienced it too because I said the election was rigged. They said, "He should spend the rest of his life in prison for that statement." Of course, they said the same about us; it’s really…

By the way, our election situation is very good. You know, we recently lost a candidate, Biden. You might think we lost a good person, but in reality, he’s a bad person, to be honest. So don’t feel sad.

We have a worse candidate. But I made a metaphor last night. Think about it: I spoke before a very powerful, influential, and religious group—Christians, evangelicals. And then today, I’m speaking before Bitcoin enthusiasts. Now I’m going to Minnesota for a rally. You think my life is great, don’t you? But remember, I cover a lot of ground. From religion to Bitcoin to rallies. I won’t mix it up like others do; they would say, "God bless everyone involved in the Bitcoin world." But in reality, we are serious because you need blessings to do something truly remarkable.

Last night, we had a wonderful time with Christians, mainly a Christian group. It was fantastic. Then we have a very large rally in Minnesota. They haven’t won here since 1972, when it was Richard Nixon. Can you believe that? I think we are leading in Minnesota, but there are some irregularities. But I think we are doing well. So we will leave here and hold a big rally there. It’s an honor to be with you.

Sadly, when we see the attacks on cryptocurrency, it’s part of a larger scale implemented by the same left-wing fascists who weaponize the government against anything that threatens their power. They did it to me too. Did you see that? I just won a big case in Florida. Thank you very much. It’s a document case. I have the Presidential Records Act on my side. By the way, Biden has it too, but he deserves to be in prison, and we won’t prosecute him because he’s incompetent. I won this case in the traditional way. It’s called victory. I want to win this case in the way Trump wins cases because they call him incompetent. Think about it. So they call him incompetent, but he’s incompetent in trial, but he’s not incompetent in governance. How can that be?

He’s not doing it anymore because he performed poorly in the debate. Did anyone watch the debate? Not many people. One person told me, "You performed poorly in the debate." I asked why. He said because he couldn’t move forward anyway. He said, "I get it." That’s exactly what happened. In fact, we had a great debate; it was actually an excellent debate.

Hey, look, you’ve got to open your eyes. You’ve got to see what’s happening. We have a country to manage. The problem is, Kamala is worse. She’s an extreme left lunatic who advocates defunding the police and all sorts of things. So far, she’s still on her honeymoon. But when people get to know her—by the way, she’s against cryptocurrency. She’s very much against it. So I just want to let you know that you must go out and vote. It’s no surprise that these same totalitarians are against cryptocurrency and trying to eliminate it. That’s what they want to do, and that’s what they are saying. Now, you have the SEC. You know what they are doing: eliminating Bitcoin.

The reason is clear: Bitcoin represents freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government coercion and control. The Biden-Harris administration’s crackdown on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin is wrong and very detrimental to our country. It’s un-American. As you know, six days ago, we officially defeated the worst president in American history. I believe he is the worst president in American history.

Think about it. Millions of people are flooding into our country. They come from prisons, mental hospitals, insane asylums, and even terrorists. We are now the country with the most terrorists entering, just like those Israelis you just heard about. They are coming in, and no one is checking them. No one knows what’s happening. We have completely lost control of our country, and only bad things will happen.

It won’t be like that. We won’t let that happen. We are beating them, and we are beating them badly. We must ensure that this is for our country. You can’t just be a fighter and then let your people lose the game. If he’s down 15, 16, 17 points, they will say you can’t win, Joe, you have to get out. He doesn’t want to get out. He says, "I’m not getting out." They say, "You have to get out." He says, "I’m not getting out. I have 14 million votes. I’m not getting out." They say, "If you don’t get out, we will handle your mental state under the 25th Amendment." He says, "As I said before, I think I will get out." So they made him get out.

Think about it: you work hard, run a campaign, spend a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of energy, but he’s losing. Then they say, "Let’s take him out of the race. We’ll get a new candidate." The new candidate is her, who might be my second choice. She’s always been my first choice, but she will be my second choice.

Again, if we don’t win this race— I know you’re not that into politics, but you must pay attention to politics because a lot of what you do involves politics. If we don’t win this race, this country could be doomed. If this country is to be under their control, we must get involved. We must fight, and we must win.

I assure the Bitcoin community that on the day I take the oath of office, the anti-cryptocurrency campaign of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will end. It will end. It will be over. The moment I take the oath of office, the persecution will stop, and the weaponization against your industry will end. As long as I’m in the White House, Elizabeth Warren and her minions—who are very nasty to you and hate everything about you—will not touch Bitcoin. They will not touch cryptocurrency. They will let it grow. We will let it grow.

On my first day in office, I will fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America should build the future, not hinder the future, which is exactly what they want. (Odaily note: The audience stood up and cheered)

Wow, I didn’t know this would be so popular. Let me say it again: On my first day in office, I will fire Gary Gensler.

And Harris wants him to be the Secretary of the Treasury. That’s not good. He was Hillary Clinton’s finance chief. You know? Hillary, she’s a bad person. Remember Hillary? Do you remember he was the finance chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign? Against that gentleman called Donald Trump? He’s not popular at all. In fact, he attended my wedding, you know? Our First Lady Melania was there, and Hillary and Bill were there too. Things really change during the campaign.

As president, I will immediately shut down "Operation Choke Point 2.0." They want to strangle your business. We won’t let that happen. Your government will no longer stand by while Bitcoin jobs and businesses flee to other countries because American laws are too vague, too harsh, too angry, and too rigid. We will keep every Bitcoin job in America. That’s what we will do. The moment I take office, I will immediately establish a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency Presidential Advisory Committee. Is anyone willing to join this special committee?

Their mission will be to design transparent regulatory guidance for the entire industry, and they will get it done. Within 100 days, we will have the corresponding regulations, but from now on, these rules will be made by people who love your industry, not by those who hate your industry. These people want to make regulations clear, simple, direct, and fair; they want to see your industry thrive, not fail.

Next, I will immediately order the Treasury Department and other federal agencies to stop all necessary steps. There’s one thing happening in your industry—they want to move towards creating a central bank digital currency. Forget it. When I am President of the United States, there will never be a central bank digital currency. I will always defend the right to self-custody and self-sovereignty. We will have a great industry. You will have a great industry, and we will promote the growth of your industry, not destroy it. America will again be a country that protects property rights, privacy, freedom of transaction, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech. We will see change; we will return to the days when we were a building nation, not a nation that devours itself from within.

As part of our efforts to provide regulatory clarity, we will create a framework for the safe and responsible expansion of stablecoins. Do you know what stablecoins are? Does anyone know? Please raise your hand. This will allow us to expand the dominance of the dollar and establish new frontiers worldwide. America will be wealthier, the world will be better, and billions of people will be brought into the crypto economy, depositing their savings into Bitcoin.

Those who say Bitcoin threatens the dollar have it completely backward. I believe it’s the exact opposite. Bitcoin does not threaten the dollar. The actions of the U.S. government right now are the real threat to the dollar. The danger to our financial future does not come from cryptocurrency but from Washington, D.C. It comes from trillions of dollars in waste, rampant inflation, and open borders while providing welfare and free healthcare to millions of illegal immigrants flooding into our country.

It comes from printing hundreds of billions to fund endless wars overseas while our cities look like war zones. Just two weeks ago, in Chicago, 117 people were shot in a week. Afghanistan doesn’t have that situation.

You know, think about these places, look at what’s happening in our cities, what has happened over the past three years, three and a half years. No one has seen anything like this. Think about it: on Independence Day weekend, 117 people were shot. One hundred seventeen, with 17 dead. This is America. I don’t think it should be like this.

By the way, when I was president, we had no new wars. We didn’t start any wars. Remember Hillary said I would start wars? Look at his character. No, I said my character would keep us away from wars. We ended some old wars, like ISIS, which they said would take five years or longer to defeat. We did it in four weeks. In fact, some said it would take longer, but we have a great military. By the way, this is not a woke military. Maybe some at the top are woke, but our military is not. I’ve seen it firsthand. They did things that no one thought were possible.

Our real generals and soldiers are not woke. They are trying to make them woke, but these people won’t be woke. I can assure you of that. With your support, this November, we will restore capability and common sense to our nation’s capital. Because in the end, this isn’t about conservatism, liberalism, or progressivism. They like the word "progressive" because it sounds nice, right? But it will destroy our country. It has actually become a terrible word. It will destroy our country. This is about common sense. We want to bring back common sense. Everything we are discussing today is common sense. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency will soar like never before, even beyond your expectations. It’s because of your efforts that we can stop the war on cryptocurrency.

We will immediately begin to rebuild our economy because when America prospers, Bitcoin will soar too. We once had the greatest economy, and we will have it again soon.

During the Trump administration, the typical middle-class family income increased by $6,000 a year. People don’t like to mention this. As a result, Americans had more money to save than at any time in decades. During my four years in office, Bitcoin soared by 3,900%, from $898 when I took office to $35,900. That’s almost the largest increase in any industry. Think about it.

Now, compare that to what we’ve seen in the three and a half years of Biden and Harris. Inflation has risen by 50%. Now, 50% sounds good, but when you compare it to nearly 4,000%, it doesn’t sound so good, does it? Usually, you would say, "Oh, 50% sounds good." But when people can’t afford food or rent, and there’s no savings to put into Bitcoin, this administration has caused the largest inflation in our nation’s history. Our people are being wiped out.

From the first day we regain control of the White House, we will replace the Biden-Harris economic stagnation with a brand new Trump economic prosperity. You will see a tremendous prosperity. You know, there are many great analysts out there. Scott, I’m talking about you, Scott, you are one of the greatest.

Others say the stock market is rising because they think Trump will be elected. If Trump is not elected, they think this country will fall into a depression like 1929. I hope that’s not true, but I understand why they say that. The stock market is rising because it looks like we will win the election. I don’t know what will happen in the election. You know, they cheat a lot; I don’t know what will happen. But if we win, this country will be a prosperous city. It will prosper like never before.

The current administration’s economic plan includes trillions of dollars in new spending and $5 trillion in tax increases. They want to increase taxes by $5 trillion. They want Trump’s tax cuts to expire. They want to impose a wealth confiscation tax, which means when you’ve earned all that money and hired all those people, they want to take your money in the form of unprecedented taxes and huge capital gains taxes that will exceed 50% in many states.

My plan is the exact opposite. We will uplift workers and make many of them savers. We will reward success, not punish success. They want to punish success and genius. We won’t let that happen.

I will make Trump’s tax cuts permanent and provide massive tax cuts for families, individuals, and job-creating businesses. This includes eliminating the tip tax. You know, right? We will eliminate the tip tax.

I will cut unnecessary and burdensome regulations. Every day, I will work to make America the best place in the world to start a business, including cryptocurrency businesses. This will be the best place. You won’t have to go to China; you won’t have to learn Chinese. I have a little granddaughter who speaks fluent Chinese. Can you believe that? It’s a wonderful thing, but it’s not easy. But you won’t have to do that. For our citizens, the most important thing is that we will end this government-created inflation nightmare and end it quickly. It must end. It is destroying our country. You know, inflation can destroy a country. You can trace it back to Germany many years ago. Look at what happened in Germany during the great inflation. It destroyed that country. It is a destroyer of nations.

You Bitcoin supporters, I say to you, you recognized the danger of inflation long before most people did. You understand inflation better than anyone. If only they had listened to you earlier. They didn’t listen to you. The absurd waste of trillions of dollars approved by our opponents has led to the inflation disaster that Bitcoin supporters have always predicted. The value of every dollar has been rapidly wiped out by 20%, 30%, or even 40%. You understand this, but many others do not. The life savings of millions of Americans have been rapidly destroyed. Out-of-control inflation is an invisible tax on the middle class. It truly is. It’s an invisible tax. I call it the "Biden tax." Now, I call it the "Harris tax" or the "Harris-Biden tax" or whatever we want to call them. But it’s a disaster. It’s a 50% tax on the people.

This is a human tragedy that is destroying people. It is a disgrace to the nation, destroying everything. We must never allow it to happen again. And it won’t happen. When I am president, I assure you it won’t happen because we will take measures to ensure it doesn’t happen. They have let prices go completely out of control. We will address energy issues and bring prices down to levels not seen in years. We once brought gas prices down to $1.87 a gallon. You don’t see that price anymore.

During my four years in leadership, we had almost no inflation. When I left office, the inflation rate was 1.4% and remained so for nearly two years. Remember Biden said he inherited a 9% inflation rate? That was just another lie, misinformation, disinformation. We gave them a booming economy. We went through COVID and did very well. But we never got credit for it. It was always because the economy and the military got credit. We rebuilt the military and created Space Force. We did a lot of different things and never got recognized for it.

You know? We gave them a great country with no inflation. Two years later, they pushed this country and inflation to the peak. The cost of living has risen by more than 50% in some cases. They say it’s 22%, but based on what they include, it could be much higher. They don’t include the factor of interest rates rising from 2.5% to 10%, which makes it hard for people to borrow money.

When I return to the White House, I will stop this administration’s madness and wasteful spending. I will end the endless wars. Again, during your favorite President Trump’s term, we had no new wars. They thought I would start wars. Let me tell you something: I will stop World War III because we are closer to World War III now than we have been since the end of World War II. I will secure the borders and stop the millions of illegal people flooding into our country. We will completely defeat inflation and help every citizen of every race, religion, color, and belief reclaim the American Dream. We will reclaim the American Dream. You don’t hear the term "American Dream" anymore. You don’t hear those words anymore. We used to talk about the American Dream. Many of you are achieving the American Dream, but if you don’t vote for me, you will be destroyed. I don’t want to tell you this, but if you don’t vote for me, you will be destroyed. You will say, "What a big mistake. We chose someone without talent. She has failed at almost everything instead of choosing Trump. Look at where we are now. We will move from beautiful houses to tiny houses."

We will end the war on American energy, and we will simply drill, baby, drill. We will drill, baby, drill. (Odaily note: The original phrase is "Drill, baby, drill," from the 2008 Republican campaign slogan.) We must do this. We have more liquid gold beneath our feet than any country—more than Saudi Arabia and Russia. We don’t use it. They use it. We don’t use it. We go to Venezuela to buy oil. It’s unbelievable.

But we won’t stop there. We will utilize all forms of American energy. I set an ambitious goal that by the end of my term, America will have the lowest energy and electricity costs in the world. We can do this very cheaply because we have abundant resources beneath our feet. With low energy costs, America will become a globally recognized powerhouse for Bitcoin mining. You will become a powerhouse for Bitcoin mining. You won’t have to move your families to China. You won’t move to China.

As we implement reforms, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency will drive our economic growth, solidify America’s financial dominance, and strengthen the entire nation for a long time to come. Many Americans don’t know that the U.S. government is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin.

Does anyone know? The federal government holds nearly 210,000 Bitcoins, which is 1% of the total supply. But for a long time, our government has violated the basic principle that every Bitcoin enthusiast knows: "HODL." Right? How can I understand this? Never sell your Bitcoin.

So, as the final part of my plan today, I announce that if I am elected, my government policy will be that America will retain 100% of all Bitcoin currently held or acquired in the future. We will retain 100%. I hope you do well. This will actually serve as the core of a strategic national Bitcoin reserve.

As you know, most of the Bitcoin currently held by the U.S. government has been obtained through law enforcement actions. You know—taken from you. "Let’s take that person’s life, take away his family, his house, and his Bitcoin." They have been taken from you because that’s the direction we are heading now. This is the direction of the nation under this fascist regime.

We will take steps to transform this vast wealth into a permanent national asset that benefits all Americans. Today, I reaffirm my commitment to commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence to time served. He has paid enough. That’s the essence of our country.

Ultimately, my commitment to everyone is: I will be the president America needs to support innovation and Bitcoin. This will be a prosperous industry, a great industry. I will do the same for other industries. Our country has never prospered by censoring new ideas and stifling the dreams of the people.

America always plants its flag on new frontiers, boldly moving forward. We must do this. We haven’t done this in a long time, especially in the last three and a half years, where the situation has been completely the opposite.

You all inherit the legacy of generations of American pioneers, patriots, adventurers, and rebels who settled this continent and built the modern world. You stand on the front lines. You know this, Bitcoin enthusiasts, don’t you? You are the modern Edisons, Wright brothers, Edisons, and Henry Fords. What you are doing in your lifetime has the potential to surpass all of us and inspire generations.

Today will go down in history as a very important day in your industry. You are building the future of America with your wisdom, courage, and personal investment. You have invested a lot; this is what you are doing. It takes courage. Most people don’t have that courage.

My job will be to set you free to do what you do best—you will win better than anyone else: win, win, win. You will win with our rare energy, passion, and wisdom. Our country cannot fail. We are currently a failing country, but it won’t be for long. Our country cannot fail. With your help, we will save our country, restore our republic, and make America and Bitcoin greater, better, stronger, richer, freer, and greater than ever before.

Thank you all. I hope you have fun with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and other work. We will make this one of the greatest industries on Earth. Good luck, God bless you. Thank you.