In Donald Trump's own words – a partial transcript of his Bitcoin 2024 speech
(The following excerpts from former President Donald Trump's speech — aided by AI transcription — focus on parts of his remarks in Nashville, Tennessee, in which he directly addressed cryptography and the industry.)
Donald Trump: Our country is blessed to have the extraordinary talent, energy and genius represented in this room. He is truly a great genius. Not all of you, but most of you, many of you, this is the kind of spirit that built America. This is the spirit that will help us make America great again. That's what we're doing. I stand before you today full of respect and admiration for what the Bitcoin community has achieved. It's amazing, actually, I kind of tell my kids, it's amazing, because they do so much about - that's why they're so aware of it, much more so than people who are a little bit older. But I say this is the steel industry of 100 years ago, it really is. I think you're just in your infancy. I can see it happening. In just 15 years, Bitcoin has gone from being just an idea posted anonymously on an Internet message board to becoming the ninth most valuable asset in the world. Can you believe this? Is this right? That's a big deal. Think about it. It's already bigger than Exxon Mobil. It will soon be surpassing the entire market value of silver. Not bad with gold. How about gold? Let's go gold. …
It will probably surpass gold someday, but based on the way it is right now, it could very well be a possibility. There's never been anything like it, and I don't think you've ever seen anything like it, and most people have no idea what the hell it is. You know that, right? So what happens when they figure it out? Is it really going to be anything? Bitcoin is not just a marvel of technology, as you know, it's a miracle of human cooperation and achievement and a lot of relationships that are formed. They just had a meeting, a roundtable, with a bunch of leaders, and it's incredible. There's a great camaraderie. It's really interesting. Obviously there's - there's competition, but there's a relationship. There's a friendship that's developed with a lot of these people. I've noticed, and I don't usually see this very often; I see the opposite. In fact, they want, they want each other. They want to kill each other. These guys have a great heart. Very smart people too. Congratulations on everything you've accomplished. This room is incredible. The people in this room - high IQ individuals. I'm running against a low IQ individual, she, I'm not even talking about him, her, I have a low IQ individual. …
The reason I’m addressing the Bitcoin community today can be summed up in two very simple words: America First. Because if we don’t do it, China will do it, and others will do it. Let’s do it, and let’s do it right. My vision is for an America that dominates the future. We have the best economy, the highest standard of living, the safest and most beautiful cities. And by the way, when I say safest, our cities are going to hell. Right now, our cities are going to hell. We’re going to fix our cities. We’re going to work with the Democrats who destroyed our cities, but we’re going to work with them. And we’re going to take our cities back. We’re going to take our country back. …
If we don't embrace crypto and Bitcoin, China will, other countries will, they will dominate, and we can't let China dominate. They're already making too much progress, and we want them to succeed. I want China to succeed, but we have to be the most successful. And what's going to... what's going to happen? I want the United States to be first in technology, first in science, first in manufacturing, first in artificial intelligence, and first in space. …
You need enormous amounts of electricity. You need twice as much electricity as we have now in the United States to dominate, and we will do it. Who would have thought we could do it? But we will do it. We will have power plants built on the ground. We will free people from certain ridiculous requirements, and we will use fossil fuels to produce electricity because we will have to. We will be using nuclear power. We will do it in an environmentally friendly way, but we will create so much electricity that you will say, Please, please, President, we don't want any more electricity. We can't handle it. You will be begging me, no more electricity, sir, we have enough. We have enough.
You know, in the Midwest they just opened, it was very interesting. They just opened two chargers, you know, an electric car charger. And, you know, I love Elon. He's great. He endorsed me, and a big endorsement. All the rest, but not everyone needs to have an electric car. I told him that. So let's get rid of this mandate. If you don't mind, some people want gas and gas cars. Some people want a hybrid and some people like an electric car. They're great. I think they're great. I think what he did is great. … It's like they did these chargers in the Midwest, eight of them. They spent $9 billion to create eight chargers to charge one car. And at that rate, it would cost about $12 billion to enforce the charges. Somehow, this isn't working. The country would have to file for Chapter 11. We’ll do a chapter, you know, it’s called Chapter Seven instead of Chapter 11, but it’s the equivalent. Now, we have to use our brains. We have to be – we’re the party of common sense. Okay, we have to have common sense. But what we have to do is produce tremendous electricity for AI and for all the other things, including the things that you’re doing, and we will produce it. And we’re going to produce it quickly, or we won’t be able to compete with China and other countries. So we’re going to produce it quickly. This afternoon, I’m laying out my plan to make sure that the United States is the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world, and we’re going to achieve that. …
If bitcoin goes to the moon, as we say, it goes to the moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way. And that's what's going to happen. But you're going to be so happy with me. You're going to be so happy. You're going to say he's the best guy. That's why I'm proud to be the first major party candidate in American history to accept donations in bitcoin and cryptocurrency. …
I heard from Vivek that 175 million people are somehow involved in this world of crypto and Bitcoin and everyone else, 175 million. So when they heard that, they said, let's be nice to them, at least until after the election. So I took a lot of pressure off a lot of people, a lot of people are very happy today who, about three months ago, were not this excited three and a half years ago. Is that right? And you know, it is right. For three and a half years, the current administration has waged a war on crypto and Bitcoin like no one has ever seen before. For those who work in this industry, they are targeting your banks. They are strangling your financial services. Have you seen that? Yes, yes, they have; a lot of hands up. They are preventing ordinary Americans from transferring money to their wallets. They are slandering you as criminals. But that happened to me too, because I said the election was rigged. He said the election was rigged to make that statement. Of course, they are saying that about us, that everything is fine now. And by the way, we're doing very well in the election. You know, we lost a candidate recently, the corrupt Joe Biden, and I thought we lost this wonderful person, and he's actually a terrible human being, if you want to know the truth, then don't feel sorry for him. We have another worse, worse human being. But, and I kind of made an analogy last night, last night, think about it. I was speaking in front of a very powerful and very strong group, very religious, a Christian group, Christians, evangelicals, Christians. And then today I'm in front of Bitcoin and now I'm going to Minnesota to do a rally. You think my life is so good, don't you? Huh? But I cover a lot of ground. I go from religion to Bitcoin to a rally, and I don't confuse it like other people do. …
It’s an honor to be with you. Unfortunately, when we see the attacks on encryption, it’s part of a much larger pattern that’s being carried out by the same left-wing fascists to arm the government against any threat to their power. They did it to me. You saw I just won a big case in Florida. Thank you very much. …
The problem is that Kamala is worse than Joe is worse. She’s a radical left-wing lunatic, defunding the police, all different things. And so far we’re doing… she’s having a little honeymoon going on right now. But when people hear about her, and she’s against crypto, by the way, she’s against it, very big. So I just want you to know that you need to get out. You have to get out and vote. It should come as no surprise that these same totalitarians are hell-bent on crushing crypto and obliterating it, and that’s what they want to do, and that’s what they claim that… Well, I mean, they are, they’re right. You have the SEC, you know what they’re doing. You know what they’re doing, destroying Bitcoin. The reason couldn’t be clearer, because Bitcoin stands for Freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government coercion and control. The Biden Harris administration’s crackdown on crypto and Bitcoin is wrong and it’s very bad for our country. It’s really quite un-American. …
If we don't win this race, and I know you're not that political, but you have to be political because your whole thing, I mean, you have a lot of politics involved in what you do. If we don't win this race, this country could be destroyed as we know it. This country is going to be in trouble, but we have to be there. We have to fight and we have to win. And I promise the Bitcoin community that the day I'm inaugurated, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris' anti-cryptocurrency crusade will end. It will end. It will be done. The moment I'm inaugurated, the persecution will stop and the use of weapons against your industry will stop and as long as I'm in the Oval Office. Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas, remember she Yes, I'm Indian. She said I'm Indian. Why are you Indian? Don't you look Indian? No, no. My mother told me I have high cheekbones. Oh, that's why she was Indian. So I called her Pocahontas, Elizabeth Warren and her henchmen, and she is very nasty to you. She hates your people. She hates everything about you. We will keep your hands off Bitcoin. Keep your hands off crypto. They can let it grow. We will let it grow. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler–
[AUDIENCE CHEERS, AUDIBLE CHANT: "TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!"]
I didn’t know he was so unpopular. Let me say it again: On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler. … I will appoint a new SEC Chairman who believes America should build the future, not block it. …
As President, I will immediately shut down Operation Choke Point 2.0. … They want to choke you. They want to choke you. Out of business? We will not let that happen. And your administration will no longer sit by and watch as Bitcoin jobs and businesses flee to other countries because America’s laws are too unclear and too harsh and too angry and too rigid. We will keep all Bitcoin jobs in the United States of America, that’s what we will do. Upon taking office, I will immediately appoint a Presidential Advisory Council on Bitcoin and Crypto. Would anyone like to be on that particular council? Please? You? …
Your job will be to craft transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry, and you will do it in 100 days. We will have regulations, but from now on, the rules will be written by people who love their industry, not hate it. People who want to make things clear and simple, straightforward and fair, people who want to see their industry thrive, not tank. Next, I will immediately order the Treasury Department and other federal agencies to cease and desist from all necessary actions, because, you know, there is something going on in your industry. They want to move forward with creating a central bank digital currency. That’s it. Forget it. CBDC. There will never be a CBDC as long as I am president of the United States. …
And I will always defend the right to self-custody. Self-custody, you will have a great industry. You will have a great industry, and we will fuel your industry, not tear it down. America will once again be a nation that protects property rights, privacy, freedom of transaction, freedom of association, and freedom of speech. Let's change our situation, let's go back to the old days, when we were a nation under construction, not a nation that was eating itself alive from the inside out. As part of our effort to provide regulatory clarity, we will create a framework to enable the safe and responsible expansion of stablecoins. Do you know what a stablecoin is? Does anyone know? Please raise your hand. Allowing us to extend the dominance of the US dollar to new frontiers around the world. America will be richer, the world will be better, and there will be billions and billions of people brought into the crypto economy and storing their savings in bitcoin. So that's the way it is. Those who say that bitcoin is a threat to the dollar have it exactly backwards. I believe it's exactly the opposite. Bitcoin is not threatening the dollar. The behavior of the current US government is actually threatening the dollar. …
The danger to our financial future doesn’t come from crypto. It comes from Washington, DC. It comes from trillions of dollars in waste, runaway inflation, and open borders, while providing free welfare and healthcare to all the illegal aliens who are pouring into our country by the millions and millions and millions. It comes from printing hundreds of billions of dollars to fund endless wars abroad, while our cities are like combat zones here at home. …
We want to bring back common sense. This is all common sense that we're talking about today, and bitcoin and crypto are going to soar like never before, even beyond your expectations, and you're the people who are doing that. As we stop the war on crypto. We will immediately, and we will do it very quickly, start building our economy. Because when America is booming, bitcoin is booming and it will soar with it. We've had the greatest economy ever and we're going to have it again soon. Under the Trump administration, the typical middle-class household income has increased by $6,000 a year. As a result, people don't like to mention that America had more money to save than at any time in many decades, during my four years in office. Now you have to listen to these numbers. These numbers are beautiful and I don't want to repeat myself. Listen to these numbers as a result. During my four years in office, bitcoin went up 3,900%, from $898 the day I took office to $35,900 the day I left. That was the biggest jump, I think, in almost any industry; think about that. Now compare that to just after three and a half years of Biden and Harris adjusted for inflation, bitcoin went up 50% now 50% sounds good, but not when you compare it to almost 4,000%, right? 50% you know, normally you say, oh, that sounds pretty good. Let's not put that in the speech. Is 50% good? When people don't have money to buy groceries or rent, they don't have savings to put in bitcoin, this administration has caused the highest inflation in the history of our country. And that's what happened. People have been getting wiped out since day one. We're taking back the White House. We're going to replace the Biden Harris economic stagnation with a new Trump economic boom. You're going to have a tremendous boom. …
I will cut unnecessary regulations and burdens. I will fight every day to make America the best place in the world to build a business, including a crypto business. It will be the best place. You won't have to go to China. You won't have to learn, gosh, how do I learn Chinese? I want to learn it really fast. I have a granddaughter who speaks Chinese fluently. Can you believe that? And it's a wonderful thing. It's not easy, but you won't have to do it. Most importantly, for our citizens, we will end the inflationary nightmare that this administration has created, and we will end it quickly. It has to end. It's destroying our country. You know, inflation is a destroyer of countries. You can go back many, many years to Germany. Let's look at what happened to Germany during their massive period of inflation. It destroyed the country. It's a destroyer of countries, the bitcoiners. And I tell you, you recognized the dangers of inflation long before most others did. You understood inflation, frankly, better than anyone, you know that, don't you? If only they had listened. They didn’t listen to you. They didn’t listen to you. The trillions of dollars of ridiculous waste approved by our opponents has resulted in the same inflationary disaster that bitcoiners have always predicted. …
America will become the undisputed world powerhouse in bitcoin mining. You will be a powerhouse in bitcoin mining. You won’t have to move your family to China. We won’t move to China… Bitcoin and crypto will become the undisputed world powerhouse in bitcoin mining. You will be a powerhouse in bitcoin mining. You won’t have to move your family to China. You won’t move to China. As we act like Bitcoin and crypto, our economy will grow, cement American financial dominance, and strengthen our entire country long into the future. Many Americans don’t realize that the United States government is among the largest holders of bitcoin. Does anyone know this? How about this? The federal government holds nearly 210,000 bitcoins, or 1% of the total supply that will ever exist. But for too long, our government has violated the cardinal rule that every bitcoiner knows by heart: Never sell your bitcoin. …
And so, as the final part of my plan today, I am announcing that if I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, the United States of America, to hold 100% of all bitcoin that the United States government currently holds or acquires. In the future, we will hold 100%. I hope you are well, please. This will serve, in effect, as the core of the strategic national stockpile of bitcoin. … Most of the bitcoin currently held by the United States government was obtained through law enforcement actions. You know they took it from you. We are going to take that guy’s life. We are going to take his family, his home, his bitcoin. We are going to turn it into bitcoin. It was taken from you, because that is where we are going now. That is where this country is going – fascist rule. And so, as I take steps to transform this vast wealth into a permanent national asset for the benefit of all Americans. …
Today, I renew my commitment to commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence to life imprisonment. That's enough. That's enough. …
Ultimately, my promise to each of you is this: I will be the pro-innovation, pro-Bitcoin president that America needs and our citizens deserve. This will be one industry, but it will be a thriving industry, a great industry, and I will do the same for every other industry. Besides, our nation has never thrived by trying to censor new ideas and crush the dreams of our people. America has always planted our flag on the next frontier and boldly moved forward. We have to do that. It’s been a long time since we’ve done that, especially in the last three and a half years. The exact opposite has happened. Those of you in this room inherit the legacy of generations of American pioneers and patriots, risk-takers and renegades who colonized this continent, built the modern world, and lived on the cutting edge. You live on the edge. You know bitcoiners, right? You are the modern-day Edisons and Wright brothers, the Carnegies and the Henry Fords, and what you do in your lifetime represents a chance to outlive us all and inspire humanity for generations to come. This will be a momentous day in the history of your industry. Together, you are building the future of America with your own intelligence, your own courage, and your own skin in the game. You have a lot of skin in the game, and that is what you are doing. It takes courage to do this. Most people don't have that courage. My job will be to set you free and let you do what Americans do best and what you will do better than anyone else. Win, win, win. You will win, win, win, with energy, passion, and brilliance like we have rarely seen before. Our country cannot fail. We are a failed nation right now, but we will not be for long. Our country cannot fail. With your help, we will save our nation. We will restore the republic and make America and Bitcoin bigger, better, stronger, richer, freer, and greater than ever before.Thank you all. Have fun with your bitcoin, your crypto, and whatever else you're playing with, and let's make this one of the biggest industries on the planet. Good luck and God bless you all. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you.