If Donald Trump is re-elected president, he will fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler “on his first day in office.” He said during his speech: Bitcoin 2024 Conference This weekend in Nashville.
He also said he would establish a strategic national reserve for Bitcoin as an economic asset and end the current administration’s “anti-cryptocurrency campaign.”
“The moment I’m sworn in, the persecution will stop, the weaponization of your industry will end,” Trump told the crowd.
“I will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America should build the future, not block it,” Trump continued. Gensler, who has served as chairman of the commission since 2021, is widely seen as anti-cryptocurrency, and in May the industry said it was “Fraud and deception.”
“As President, I will immediately end Operation Choke Point 2.0,” Trump said, referring to the U.S. government’s alleged efforts to discourage traditional financial institutions from servicing the cryptocurrency industry. “They’re trying to strangle your business. We’re not going to allow that.”
The Republican presidential candidate began accepting donations in cryptocurrency two months ago, becoming the first major presidential candidate to do so, and since then he has received $4 million in cryptocurrency donations, a source familiar with his fundraising said. CNN.
This is a 180-degree turn from his stance when he took office in 2019. he tweeted He said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies, which he said were “not money and whose value is highly unstable and unfounded.”
“The United States has only one real currency and it is stronger, more reliable and more trustworthy than it has ever been,” Trump tweeted at the time, referring to the U.S. dollar.
But on Saturday, he called for the United States to become the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet.”
“The government will no longer stand by and watch as bitcoin jobs and businesses flee to other countries because our laws are too unclear, too harsh, too angry and too rigid,” he said. “We intend to keep every single bitcoin job in the United States.”
He said he plans to appoint a “Presidential Advisory Commission on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies” if elected.
“Their task will be to develop transparent regulatory guidelines that benefit the entire industry, and they will get it done within 100 days,” he promised. “Regulations will exist, but going forward the rules will be written by people who love our industry, not people who hate our industry. People who want it to be clear, simple, straightforward and fair. People who want our industry to thrive, not languish.”
Trump ended his hour-long speech by calling crypto enthusiasts “the Edisons, the Wright Brothers, the Carnegies and the Henry Fords of our time,” to the delight of the audience.
“[W]”What you accomplish in your lifetime is a chance to outlive us all and inspire the next generation of humanity,” he said. “You’re putting your wits, your grit, and your life on the line to build America’s future… Most people don’t have that courage. My job is to set you free to do what Americans do best, and do it better than anyone else… You keep winning.”
Democratic Congressman Wiley Nickel of North Carolina also addressed attendees over the weekend, calling on the next administration to “select a pro-innovation SEC chairman,” referencing Trump’s previous stance on cryptocurrency, The Post reported. Financial Times.
“I want to say this as politely and respectfully as I can: Donald Trump was president for four years and did nothing about this issue,” Nickel said. “I can tell you right now that he’s talking complete crap.”
