Trump Courts Crypto Fans, Pledging to Free Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht

Seeking to win votes and donations from the 7% of US adults who held or used cryptocurrencies last year, Trump praised a room full of digital currency fans

Former US president Donald Trump has received applause for pledging to fast-track cryptocurrency regulation if he is re-elected.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami on Thursday, Trump said he would create a special task force to work on the regulation.

“Their task will be to design transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry, and they will get it done in 100 days. We will have regulations, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry.”

Trump also repeated his pledge to free Ross Ulbricht, who was jailed in 2015 for running Silk Road, the illegal website that was used to buy and sell drugs and organise other illegal activities.

Trump is seeking to win votes and donations from the 7 per cent of US adults who held or used cryptocurrencies last year.

In May, he became the first presidential candidate of a major party to start accepting cryptocurrency donations.

It is an about-turn for the former president, who in 2021 described bitcoin as a “scam”.

In Nashville, Trump praised a room full of digital currency fans, saying they “recognised the dangers of inflation long before most others”.

Bitcoin advocates believe that the cryptocurrency is protected from inflation because only 21 million bitcoins can be created and more than 19 million are already in circulation.

Trump warned that China and other countries would embrace crypto if the US did not. China currently bans cryptocurrencies.

He also said he would create a national strategic reserve of bitcoin, which would partly consist of currency that the US government has seized from criminal investigations and other sources.

Marc Chandler, a New York-based political economist, said he did not support the idea of making bitcoin a strategic reserve asset.

“Bitcoin is too volatile, pays no interest and gives unnecessary exposure to [a] speculative asset whose use value has yet to be demonstrated,” he said.

Earlier in the day, crypto investors were invited to pay more than $800,000 for a seat at a roundtable with Trump, and $60,000 for a photo with him, or $100,000 for two people.

Adam Patterson, 45, a crypto investor from Dallas, Texas, who was in the conference hall, said Trump’s presence at the bitcoin convention was “amazing”.

“I think it really helps with the growth of bitcoin to let people know that, yeah, this is something real. It’s been a long hard road. People thought we were crazy and now they are starting to call us and say, ‘you were right’.”

Lou Galindo, 47, a translator who travelled from Washington state to hear Trump speak, said: “For me, being here is an absolute privilege.” She said she plans to start investing in bitcoin because she believes it can be independent from big banks.

Other people at the conference said they would not support Trump because they disagreed with him on other issues, even if they conceded that his policies were likely to boost the value of bitcoin.

Kamala Harris, who is poised to become the Democratic nominee, did not speak at the event. However, members of her team have begun contacting crypto companies with a view to improving relations with the sector, The Financial Times reported.

Robert Kennedy Jr, the independent presidential candidate, also spoke at the conference and pledged to direct the US Treasury to purchase enough bitcoin to build a reserve comparable to US gold reserves. He also said he would make direct ownership of bitcoin tax-free.

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