Donald Trump appeals to crypto investors at conference

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday shared his plans to promote cryptocurrency if he gets elected for a second term and said he wants the US to become a "bitcoin superpower" under his leadership.

Trump spoke at a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville, Tennessee, where, in his efforts to woo crypto investors, he promised to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet" and create a bitcoin "strategic reserve" using the currency that the government currently holds.

At the conference, Trump said he would also constitute a crypto advisory council and teasingly asked his supporters at the conference if they would join it.

"We will have regulations, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry," he said.

In his nearly an hour-long speech, Trump repeatedly tried to compare his plans to grow the crypto market to the Biden administration's efforts to regulate the industry.

Trump told the attendees that the federal government was "blocking your way." He said he wanted cryptocurrency "mined, minted and made" in the United States.

Trump's U-turn on cryptocurrency

Trump's fondness for cryptocurrency is not only new-found but also in stark contrast to his earlier position.

In 2019, Trump dismissed the digital currency, saying their "value is highly volatile and based on thin air."

Two years later, he even called bitcoin a "scam."

However, over the years, Trump has embraced digital currency, and starting this year, his campaign has begun accepting donations in cryptocurrency.

mfi/sri (AP, Reuters)