Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt
Crypto Twitter is still giddy after former president Donald Trump took the stage at Bitcoin Nashville on Saturday to read off a list of campaign promises aimed at courting Bitcoin fans and crypto investors. Although his remarks began an hour late and were often meandering, he told the crowd, “I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet.”
The campaign promise that unquestionably drew the most raucous response was a vow to fire Gary Gensler, chair of the SEC. Trump expressed surprise at how unpopular Gensler was, and revisited the applause line by repeating it again.
JUST IN: Crowd goes absolutely nuts after Donald Trump vows to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler during the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Trump was clearly taken aback at the crowd’s reaction when he made the announcement.
“On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and… pic.twitter.com/0CyOMaY6FY
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 27, 2024
To assuage the hunger for those seeking a more defined crypto policy, Sen. Cynthia Lummis followed up with a proposal to set up a strategic U.S. Bitcoin reserve, declaring it a key way to address the massive national debt.
The Bitcoin conference was a notably colorful way to cap the week, which began with major mainstream headlines for the crypto industry. Spot ETH ETFs debuted on Wall Street. on Tuesday. The new funds kicked off with a mild but sturdy launch, despite massive outflows. Analysts like Bloomberg’s James Seyffart applauded the premiere as a “very solid first day.”
But as the week progressed, some crypto users grew dismayed by ETH’s sagging price—which got no boost from the ETFs.
ETH is a cursed asset 😭🙏
Every single time it has pumped the market has dumped
You would think that this time would be different with the ETF approval but this time was in fact not different pic.twitter.com/HXcoJbo3f8
— HENRI.SOL (@henri_sol) July 25, 2024
Nonetheless, others held faith that ETH’s lackluster performance was actually a promising sign, not a cursed one. Bitcoin similarly dipped after the listing of spot BTC ETFs in January, before smashing through all-time highs.
bitty nuked for 12 days after the etf began trading
then doubled
eth nuking 4 days after the etf began
ct: eth is a fossil. It’s done. You don’t understand. It will literally never pump again. I myself have sold everything. I am sticking my head into the ground like an emu
— fooo (@bitcoinpanda69) July 26, 2024
Regardless of hour-to-hour price movements, the week’s events have provided Ethereum with one of its most prominent displays of legitimacy.
Meanwhile, in Bitcoin-land, the frenzy over Donald Trump’s apperance in Nashville was stirred up even further when the conference organizer suggested that presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris could attend the event.
We’re in talks with Kamala Harris campaign for her to speak at the conference. Would be very savvy of her to reset the democrat positioning on the fastest growing voter block in the country. They’re making up their minds today.
— David Bailey🇵🇷 $0.65mm/btc is the floor (@DavidFBailey) July 23, 2024
Though the Harris campaign never confirmed that the vice president ever considered attending the conference, Crypto Twitter immediately erupted into a frenzy of excited speculation and dream-casting, imagining a near future where crypto might become a non-partisan issue embraced across the political spectrum.
If they actually accept this and do talk, I am going to be unbearable as I take my victory lap on the naysayers who said “Dems will never shift”
Even if you don’t want Dems to win, we’ve got a rare opportunity to make crypto a non-partisan issue.
Don’t fuck it up. https://t.co/F6GPdbHbOq
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) July 23, 2024
Good: Kamala appearing at Bitcoin Nashville
Better: Kamala announcing her campaign’s crypto wallet at Bitcoin Nashville
Best: Kamala using her wallet on stage and saying she’ll work on lowering gas fees https://t.co/RIpT7UjhaA
— Justin Slaughter (@JBSDC) July 23, 2024
The eagerness to believe that Harris might turn the bend on crypto was fueled in part by reports that her camp reached out to billionaire and Bitcoin advocate Mark Cuban with “multiple questions” about the industry.
But Harris has also never once made a public statement about crypto. Alas, the hope that her first statements on the subject might come live onstage at a Trump-dominated conference of die-hard Bitcoin maximalists, appeared to be wishful thinking.
Kamala Harris will not be speaking @TheBitcoinConf. No surprise. What can she say to us when she’s actively imprisoning developers, forcing our industry overseas, attacking PoW… it would have been a disaster for her.
All eyes on Trump now.
— David Bailey🇵🇷 $0.65mm/btc is the floor (@DavidFBailey) July 24, 2024
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Source: https://decrypt.co/242048/this-week-on-crypto-twitter-trump-talks-bitcoin-after-ethereum-etfs-launch
