Former president Donald Trump has reconfirmed he will attend this year’s Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee following an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania over the weekend.
We are happy to report that Donald Trump is committed to delivering his speech in-person at Bitcoin 2024. We are proud to host him and to share the solidarity of the global Bitcoin community and our universal commitment to free speech and peaceful democracy.
— The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) July 14, 2024
Conference organizers are beefing up security for the annual bitcoin conference in anticipation of Trump’s appearance. “We are happy to report that Donald Trump is committed to delivering his speech in-person at Bitcoin 2024,” organizers posted on social media. “We are proud to host him and to share the solidarity of the global bitcoin community and our universal commitment to free speech and peaceful democracy.”
The conference organizers did acknowledge concerns about security: “We know you have questions about security and what to expect at this historic event. We are actively engaged with our security teams and are fully cooperating with all the relevant parties to ensure a safe event.”
The event will be live-streamed and will also feature speeches from high-profile figures in the crypto industry, including MicroStrategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor, ARK founder and CEO Cathie Wood, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., entertainer Russell Brand, whistleblower Edward Snowden, politician and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn.
In January, Trump drew excitement from the crypto industry when he pledged to ban central bank digital currencies, long a major concern for crypto advocates worried about financial surveillance.
In May, Trump began accepting crypto donations in bitcoin, ether, and Dogecoin, and vowed to create “a crypto army moving the [Trump] campaign to victory on November 5th.”
“Saving our nation from Biden’s failures requires your support,” said the Trump campaign this spring. “As Biden piles regulations and red tape on all of us, [former] President Trump stands ready to embrace new technologies that will Make America Great Again.”
Other politicians have taken a page from Trump’s book and embraced cryptocurrency as well. Last week, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn announced her campaign would also accept crypto donations.
