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The price of bitcoin is nearing its all-time high amid rumours that Donald Trump will announce plans for a strategic reserve of the cryptocurrency.
Trump will deliver a keynote address at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville this week, marking the first time that a US presidential candidate has appeared at the industry-leading event. The exact content of the speech is not yet known, though claims from the organisers that it will be “historic” have led to positive price predictions from some market analysts.
The Republican nominee has positioned himself as the “crypto president” in recent months, having previously dismissed bitcoin as a “scam”. His recent pick for running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, is also a bitcoin investor, marking the first time that a frontrunner in the presidential race has been overtly pro bitcoin.
“Whether [Trump] is a bitcoiner or not is yet to be seen,” Danny Scott, the chief executive of crypto exchange CoinCorner, told The Independent ahead of Bitcoin 2024. “His recent pro-bitcoin stance is a smart move as it helps him rake in the votes from a fairly large community and industry.”
The price of bitcoin is up more than $10,000 (£7,800) since the start of July and is now less than $10,000 away from its all-time high of $74,000.
Other industry figures noted that Donald Trump’s stance on crypto may ultimately not matter if his other economic policies are favourable to the cryptocurrency space.
Billionaire crypto investor Mark Cuban said last week that, if elected, Trump could oversee a “crazy” period of massive gains for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
“It’s a bitcoin play. Not because the former president is a far stronger proponent of crypto. That’s nice. But doesn’t really impact the price of crypto,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“It makes it easier to operate a crypto business because of the inevitable, and required, changes at the SEC. What will drive the price of BTC is lower tax rates and tariffs, which if history is any guide (and it’s not always ), will be inflationary. Combine that with global uncertainty as to the geopolitical role of the USA, and the impact on the US dollar as a reserve currency, and you can’t align the stars any better for a BTC price acceleration.”
There were rumours in the build-up to Bitcoin 2024 that Vice President Kamala Harris, who is widely expected to be the Democrat candidate, would address the delegates.
Conference organisers confirmed on Wednesday that she would not be appearing, however Mr Cuban said that her team had reached out to discuss policy.
“I’m getting multiple questions from her camp about crypto,” he told cryptocurrency publication Decrypt. “So I take that as a good sign.”
Trump is set to deliver his keynote on Saturday at 2pm local time (8pm BST).
Event organiser Brandon Green told BeinCrypto: “No one knows what Trump is going to say, except for Trump himself. However, we’re really optimistic that it’s going to be a positive message that he delivers to the bitcoin community. And in fact, we think it’s going to be a historic message.”
Other speakers at the Bitcoin 2024 conference include fellow presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
