00:00:00
Thank you. Thank you
00:00:02
all. Well, first of all, I want to
00:00:05
thank Please, please, please thank you
00:00:08
guys. Take take your
00:00:10
seats. And uh you know, the Secret
00:00:12
Service is a little bit nervous cuz I
00:00:14
told them these Bitcoin guys really like
00:00:16
guns,
00:00:18
but they they they they really like the
00:00:21
president, vice president of United
00:00:22
States, too. So, I think we're doing
00:00:24
okay.
00:00:31
So, I I first have to thank David
00:00:33
Bailey. Grateful for everything that
00:00:35
you've done for the Bitcoin community.
00:00:37
Thanks in particular for what you did
00:00:39
for me and the president helping us get
00:00:42
from candidacy to the White House
00:00:44
because we've done I think a lot of good
00:00:46
in the past 120 days and I don't think
00:00:48
we could have done it without David's
00:00:50
support. I want to also thank the uh
00:00:53
Winklvoss brothers, Tyler and Cameron.
00:00:57
These guys are out here
00:01:01
somewhere who I got to say Tyler and
00:01:04
Cameron I I think really helped break
00:01:06
the dam in Silicon Valley because if you
00:01:09
remember you go back to June or July of
00:01:11
last year. It feels like forever ago.
00:01:13
It's not even a year ago where Silicon
00:01:15
Valley, you know, people would whisper
00:01:17
in private that they were going to
00:01:19
support Donald Trump for president. They
00:01:20
would talk about the fact the Democrats
00:01:22
had gone too crazy. We had to get Gary
00:01:25
Gensler the hell out of there. But they
00:01:26
weren't quite willing to
00:01:30
say, but they weren't quite willing to
00:01:33
say, at least not publicly, that they
00:01:34
were going to take the big step and
00:01:36
support Donald J. Trump. And Cameron and
00:01:39
Tyler Winklvoss, I think they were some
00:01:40
of the first big names in Silicon Valley
00:01:43
to take that step. And a whole host of
00:01:45
people followed them. So Cameron and
00:01:47
Tyler, thank you for
00:01:52
that. And of course, I want to thank the
00:01:55
good people at Coinbase, the organizers
00:01:57
of this event, and everybody who made
00:02:00
this incredible event possible. It's
00:02:02
great to be here with Bitcoin at
00:02:04
108,000, at least when I checked this
00:02:06
morning. And as vice president of the
00:02:08
United States, it's great to be
00:02:10
[Applause]
00:02:18
here. Now, you guys know I get to meet a
00:02:20
lot of exciting people in my job, but
00:02:23
it's been quite a while since I've been
00:02:25
to a conference with this level of
00:02:28
energy. I mean, hell, you guys came out
00:02:30
here at 9:00 a.m. after a long night,
00:02:32
I'm sure, in Las Vegas. You can't do
00:02:34
that without a lot of good energy. But I
00:02:36
I I I promise I'm not just saying that
00:02:39
to juice my own meme
00:02:43
coins. But I think it's wrong actually
00:02:46
to call this just a conference. This
00:02:48
isn't a conference of people. This is a
00:02:50
movement. And I'm proud to stand with
00:02:52
you here
00:02:53
[Applause]
00:02:59
today. And I think this conference, this
00:03:02
movement of people is where the future
00:03:04
of cryptocurrency in this great country
00:03:07
gets decided. So let's start by making
00:03:10
one thing abundantly clear. That future
00:03:13
is going to be decided by the people, by
00:03:16
you, not by unelected
00:03:19
[Applause]
00:03:25
bureaucrats. Now, as you all probably
00:03:27
know, you've got a star-studded lineup
00:03:29
here today, including several of my
00:03:30
colleagues in the Trump
00:03:32
administration. David Bo Hester, I know
00:03:35
you're all out there. It's great to be
00:03:37
among so many friends and allies. So, I
00:03:41
want to speak for just a few minutes
00:03:43
about a few things and I want to talk a
00:03:46
little bit about what we've done in the
00:03:48
Trump administration. I want to give you
00:03:50
a rundown of what this administration is
00:03:52
doing on digital assets policy. But I
00:03:55
also want to talk about some of the
00:03:56
principles that help guide us as we
00:03:58
develop this policy. But before that, I
00:04:01
want to speak about why I'm personally
00:04:04
optimistic about crypto and what it
00:04:06
means for the American people. Now,
00:04:08
people ask me why I tend to be bullish
00:04:10
on the future of innovation in this
00:04:12
country. I spent enough time in Silicon
00:04:15
Valley to recognize the difference
00:04:17
between good tech, technology that
00:04:19
boosts our productivity, makes our lives
00:04:22
richer, that grounds us in the real
00:04:25
world, and complements our day-to-day
00:04:27
lives. That's the good technology. But
00:04:29
there's also some bad technology out
00:04:31
there. And when it comes to crypto, I
00:04:34
think the last several years have made
00:04:35
it clear that we're talking about
00:04:37
genuine groundup innovation. One that's
00:04:40
already improving the well-being of tens
00:04:43
of millions of our fellow citizens. I
00:04:45
believe it's 50 million Americans own
00:04:48
Bitcoin. And I believe that's going to
00:04:49
be 100 million before too long.
00:04:52
[Applause]
00:04:58
But it's not just about Bitcoin and
00:05:00
about the value that's been generated,
00:05:02
the wealth that's been generated by so
00:05:04
many millions of our fellow citizens.
00:05:06
Through decentralized finance, crypto
00:05:08
has transformed how Americans transact
00:05:12
with one another. It's expanded access
00:05:14
to banking for many who may not
00:05:17
otherwise have had it. And every single
00:05:19
day I feel like I see some
00:05:21
groundbreaking new use of blockchain
00:05:23
tech. Whether it's in supply chain
00:05:26
management, whether it's in hospitals,
00:05:28
or whether it's in changing how we track
00:05:30
and store patients private health
00:05:33
records. But for each of these new
00:05:37
forward-looking applications, I also
00:05:39
feel like there's an incredibly value
00:05:41
conservative element to crypto
00:05:44
technology, and that's as a hedge.
00:05:47
Crypto is a hedge against bad
00:05:49
policymaking from Washington, no matter
00:05:52
what party's in control. It's a hedge
00:05:55
against skyrocketing inflation, which
00:05:57
has eroded the real savings rate of
00:06:00
Americans over the last four years. And
00:06:02
as you all know well, it's a hedge
00:06:05
against a private sector that's
00:06:07
increasingly willing to discriminate
00:06:09
against consumers on the basis of their
00:06:12
basic beliefs, including their politics.
00:06:15
[Applause]
00:06:23
That includes, of course, debanking
00:06:25
users for Second Amendment advocacy or
00:06:28
for ties to the first Trump
00:06:30
administration. In Canada, the
00:06:32
government did the same to kill those
00:06:34
big truck driver protests in
00:06:37
2022. Less than a week later, they
00:06:39
succeeded. The protests were over. But
00:06:43
maybe most importantly, I see crypto as
00:06:46
a hedge against one of the most
00:06:47
dangerous trends in the digital era in
00:06:50
both the public and private sectors. And
00:06:53
that's of elites who rather than
00:06:55
innovate themselves prefer to simply
00:06:58
take over and co-opt cutting edge
00:07:00
technologies to assert their control
00:07:03
over other people.
00:07:08
[Applause]
00:07:11
And I know we believe this in this room.
00:07:13
That's not Bitcoin. It'll never be
00:07:16
Bitcoin. And you guys are going to make
00:07:18
sure that happens.
00:07:23
[Applause]
00:07:25
But as you know, there's a new sheriff
00:07:27
in town. Because after four years of
00:07:29
mistreatment and outright hostility led
00:07:32
by Democrat regulators, lawmakers in
00:07:35
this country have a choice. Will we lead
00:07:39
our nation into a future of financial
00:07:42
sovereignty, of innovation, and of
00:07:45
prosperity? Or will we let unelected
00:07:47
bureaucrats and foreign competitors
00:07:50
write the rules for us? And I'm here
00:07:52
today to say loud and clear with
00:07:55
President Trump, crypto finally has a
00:07:58
champion and an ally in the White
00:07:59
[Applause]
00:08:08
House. In our administration, we
00:08:11
understand the full potential of the
00:08:13
digital assets industry, not just as an
00:08:16
investment, not just as a flashy
00:08:18
technology, but as a symbol and driver
00:08:21
of personal liberty for all our
00:08:23
citizens. And we are dedicated to seeing
00:08:25
that promise fulfilled. The way that we
00:08:28
see it, the people in this room are the
00:08:30
digital pioneers of the American
00:08:32
economy. And that's why our
00:08:34
administration is doing something a
00:08:36
little unusual in Washington. We're
00:08:39
listening to all of you as you blaze the
00:08:42
trail of innovation. The innovators in
00:08:45
this room are making people's lives
00:08:47
better. You're pushing boundaries and
00:08:49
solving problems, injecting
00:08:51
unprecedented transparency into how we
00:08:54
do commerce. And the way we see it, you
00:08:56
all deserve a similar level of
00:08:59
transparency and clarity. And most of
00:09:01
all, you deserve respect and support
00:09:04
from your government, not bureaucrats
00:09:06
trying to tear you down.
00:09:08
[Applause]
00:09:15
Now, that means a few substantive
00:09:17
concrete steps. And of course, the first
00:09:19
and most important of those steps is
00:09:21
straightforward. We've got to clean up
00:09:23
the wreckage that the last
00:09:25
administration left us. And since day
00:09:28
one, that is exactly what we've been
00:09:30
trying to do. our administration, we
00:09:32
prioritize eliminating the rules, the
00:09:35
red tape, and the lawfare that we saw
00:09:37
aimed at crypto by our predecessors.
00:09:41
We're ending the weaponization of
00:09:43
federal regulations against this
00:09:45
community. To put it simply, Operation
00:09:48
Chokepoint 2.0 is dead and it's not
00:09:51
coming back under the Trump
00:09:52
administration.
00:10:00
And by the way, it's crazy that was ever
00:10:01
even controversial. The idea of using
00:10:05
the regulatory power of the government
00:10:07
to crush an industry and to crush people
00:10:10
who espoused a view that you didn't
00:10:12
like. It's crazy. But let my words today
00:10:15
serve as Operation Chokepoint. Let me
00:10:18
serve as its obituary.
00:10:20
Now,
00:10:23
this now this is my vow to every single
00:10:26
person here. You will never see this
00:10:28
administration trying to handicap your
00:10:31
community or diminish the impact it's
00:10:33
had on the economy. Instead, we reject
00:10:37
the Biden administration's legacy of
00:10:40
death by a thousand enforcement
00:10:43
actions. We reject regulators.
00:10:48
Maybe maybe the most important thing
00:10:50
that we did for this community, we
00:10:52
reject regulators and we fired Gary
00:10:54
Gensler and we're going to fire
00:10:56
everybody like him.
00:11:05
And we know that people like Gary
00:11:07
Gensler, the game that they played is
00:11:09
that under the pretense of consumer
00:11:12
protection, they attacked every single
00:11:15
effort to democratize our financial
00:11:17
markets. And that is over.
00:11:23
America, I grew up in a working-class
00:11:25
family. I believe that America is a
00:11:27
place where anyone should be able to
00:11:30
make a fortune, no matter where you grew
00:11:32
up, what degree you may or may not have.
00:11:35
And in recent years, I'm hardpressed to
00:11:37
think of a better place to do so than
00:11:39
right here in the digital assets
00:11:41
industry. Now, our second substantive
00:11:44
step is we're trying to create a clear
00:11:46
progrowth legal framework for stable
00:11:48
coins in this country. And I know we've
00:11:50
got some solid allies in Congress. Is
00:11:52
Cynthia Lumis out there today or she
00:11:54
already go home?
00:11:56
She already Well, you know, I was
00:11:58
supposed to have dinner last night with
00:12:00
Cynthia Lumis. We had a little event
00:12:02
yesterday and I looked around. I said,
00:12:04
"Where the hell is Cynthia Lumis?" And
00:12:05
somebody said, "Well, she's got a dinner
00:12:08
she had to go to." And I said, "I'm the
00:12:10
vice president." Unless she's having
00:12:11
dinner with the president. Cynthia does
00:12:13
not have an excuse to skip this event,
00:12:16
but but we love Cynthia, and I know that
00:12:18
she's one of the great advocates for for
00:12:19
your industry in the United States
00:12:21
Congress.
00:12:23
[Applause]
00:12:30
Now, I know led by Cynthia and other
00:12:32
great legislators, Congress is hard at
00:12:34
work getting the Genius Act passed and
00:12:37
across the president's desk as quickly
00:12:39
as possible. And that's an important
00:12:42
step. It's with good reason because
00:12:45
regulatory uncertainty in this country
00:12:47
has pushed way too much stable coin
00:12:50
activity overseas over the last few
00:12:52
years.
00:12:53
Now, somebody said to me yesterday, I uh
00:12:56
that that Bitcoin has done so much over
00:12:59
the last few years with so many
00:13:01
headwinds. Wouldn't it be nice to have a
00:13:03
government that provided some tailwinds
00:13:05
to one of the fastest growing industries
00:13:07
in our country? And that's what we aim
00:13:08
to do.
00:13:10
[Applause]
00:13:16
And once the Genius Act is enacted, it's
00:13:18
poised to vastly expand the use of
00:13:20
stable coins as a digital payment system
00:13:23
for millions of our fellow Americans.
00:13:26
It'll also protect coin holders and
00:13:28
inject further transparency into the
00:13:30
market. And let me be emphatic on one
00:13:33
other point. In this administration, we
00:13:35
do not think that stable coins threaten
00:13:38
the integrity of the United States
00:13:40
dollar. Quite the opposite.
00:13:47
In fact, we view them as a force
00:13:50
multiplier of our economic
00:13:53
might. Dollar peg stable coins,
00:13:56
particularly once genius is enacted, is
00:13:58
only going to help the American economy
00:14:00
and it's only going to help the American
00:14:02
dollar. So again, we're optimistic that
00:14:05
the Senate is able to move quickly on
00:14:07
passing a Clean Genius Act and for the
00:14:09
House to follow up and do the same. And
00:14:12
of course, once that happens, our great
00:14:13
President Trump will sign it into law
00:14:16
the minute it comes across his
00:14:18
desk.
00:14:20
Now,
00:14:22
when when that's happened, when the
00:14:24
administration will then fully shift to
00:14:28
our third priority, which is to enact a
00:14:30
transparent and tailored regulatory
00:14:33
framework for digital assets, one that's
00:14:35
pro- innovation and fully incorporates
00:14:38
crypto into the mainstream economy. And
00:14:41
again, I've talked to so many of you
00:14:42
over the last couple of days, and the
00:14:44
consistent fear that I hear with all the
00:14:47
great things that have happened over the
00:14:49
last couple of of of months, the
00:14:52
consistent fear that I hear is that
00:14:53
there's still this perception that
00:14:55
digital assets are not welcome in the
00:14:57
mainstream economy. And let me promise
00:14:59
you that our effort to change the policy
00:15:02
is purely about changing that. We want
00:15:06
our fellow Americans to know that crypto
00:15:09
and digital assets and particularly
00:15:12
Bitcoin are part of the mainstream
00:15:14
economy and are here to
00:15:22
stay. Now, we think the way to do that
00:15:25
legislatively because again I I I I hope
00:15:28
that our party is in charge for a long
00:15:30
time, but nothing is ever guaranteed in
00:15:33
politics. So the best way to ensure that
00:15:36
crypto is part of the mainstream economy
00:15:38
is through a market structure bill that
00:15:41
champions and doesn't restrict the
00:15:44
extraordinary value that Bitcoin and
00:15:46
other digital assets represent. Right
00:15:48
now in this Congress and with this
00:15:51
administration, we have a once- in a
00:15:54
generation opportunity to unleash
00:15:56
innovation and use it to improve the
00:15:59
lives of countless American citizens.
00:16:02
But if we fail to create regulatory
00:16:04
clarity now, we risk chasing this $3
00:16:07
trillion industry offshore in search of
00:16:10
a friendlier jurisdiction. And President
00:16:12
Trump is going to fight to make sure
00:16:13
that does not
00:16:16
[Applause]
00:16:21
happen. Think about this. By locking in
00:16:24
smart pro-inovation rules of the road,
00:16:26
we can also make sure that Democrats or
00:16:29
anybody else never wage another war on
00:16:32
the crypto
00:16:37
community. Now, I've already hit my time
00:16:41
here, but before I head back to
00:16:42
Washington, let me offer you just a few
00:16:45
bits of advice and a few thoughts on
00:16:47
where this industry is going. This is
00:16:49
one politician's perspective, so take it
00:16:52
for what it's worth. Maybe a little bit
00:16:54
less than one Bitcoin right now.
00:16:57
But let me say a few things. First of
00:16:59
all, I remember when I ran for Senate,
00:17:01
the first time I had ever entered
00:17:02
politics back in 2022. And one of the
00:17:05
frustrations honestly that I had with
00:17:08
the crypto community as a person who was
00:17:10
one of the only people running for
00:17:12
office who actually owned Bitcoin, and I
00:17:14
still own a fair amount of Bitcoin
00:17:15
today,
00:17:22
Think about this. This is during that
00:17:23
campaign. That's 2021 and 2022. This
00:17:26
feels like an eternity ago, but it was
00:17:28
only four years ago. Is that I
00:17:30
recognized what so many advocates of
00:17:33
Bitcoin recognized, which is what the
00:17:34
the Biden administration was doing, what
00:17:37
Gary Gensler was doing was a disaster.
00:17:40
And yet there didn't seem to be any real
00:17:42
organization pushing back against it at
00:17:44
the political level. And let me say that
00:17:46
part of the reason that I'm standing
00:17:48
here, part of the reason that Bernie
00:17:50
Marino defeated shared Brown in the
00:17:52
Senate campaign last year is because you
00:17:55
guys got organized and got involved in
00:17:58
American politics. And I'm grateful to
00:18:00
you for that.
00:18:03
But but there's a lesson to take from
00:18:07
that experience which is that unless you
00:18:09
guys get involved in politics, politics
00:18:13
is going to ignore this industry. Now
00:18:16
you took a big step in 2024 and I tell
00:18:19
you every victory that we win it's only
00:18:22
a provisional victory. You know, one of
00:18:24
my great meners in Silicon Valley always
00:18:27
told me that, you know, Bitcoin that the
00:18:30
crypto community was about exit and
00:18:32
artificial intelligence was about voice.
00:18:35
Well, I know that a lot of people in
00:18:37
2024 in this community chose voice. You
00:18:40
chose to speak up and you chose to get
00:18:42
involved and I believe you changed the
00:18:44
direct trajectory of our country because
00:18:46
of it. But you got to keep on choosing
00:18:49
voice. You know, Bitcoin of course is
00:18:51
people call it digital gold. But while
00:18:54
Bitcoin is digital, none of you are,
00:18:58
none of us are. What happens in the
00:19:01
world of politics, what happens in the
00:19:03
world of bureaucracy, it will affect
00:19:06
even the most transformational and
00:19:08
valuable technologies if we don't make
00:19:11
the right decisions. So the first piece
00:19:13
of advice, the first thing that I'd ask
00:19:15
you is to take the momentum of your
00:19:19
political involvement in 2024 and carry
00:19:21
it forward to 2026 and beyond. Don't
00:19:25
ignore politics because I guarantee you,
00:19:27
my friends, politics is not going to
00:19:30
ignore this community. Not now and not
00:19:32
in the future.
00:19:35
[Applause]
00:19:40
The second thing that I want to toss out
00:19:42
there is that we have to start thinking
00:19:44
of the long-term strategic implications
00:19:47
of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is owned by about 50
00:19:50
million Americans. A lot of Americans
00:19:52
have made a lot of money, have created a
00:19:54
lot of wealth for themselves, and that's
00:19:56
a great thing. But I actually think that
00:19:59
where Bitcoin is going is as a
00:20:03
strategically important asset for the
00:20:05
United States over the next decade. It's
00:20:07
one of the reasons why President Trump
00:20:09
with the help of of our great AI guy
00:20:11
David Saxs. It's one of the reasons why
00:20:14
we started the Bitcoin Reserve because
00:20:16
we want to start to put in motion the
00:20:20
strategic importance of Bitcoin for the
00:20:22
United States government. We know that
00:20:25
the PRC doesn't like Bitcoin. The
00:20:28
People's Republic of China doesn't like
00:20:29
Bitcoin. Well, we should be asking
00:20:31
ourselves, why is that? Why is our
00:20:34
biggest adversary such an opponent of
00:20:36
Bitcoin? And if the Communist Republic
00:20:39
of China is leaning away from Bitcoin,
00:20:42
then maybe the United States ought to be
00:20:44
leaning into Bitcoin. And that's one of
00:20:46
the things that we're going to be doing.
00:20:54
But that's not a vice president standing
00:20:57
up here and talking at you. The way that
00:20:59
Bitcoin is involved in the strategic
00:21:02
future of our country, that's got to be
00:21:04
a two-way conversation. And so when I
00:21:06
talk about getting involved in politics,
00:21:08
one of the things that you guys got to
00:21:10
do is continue to give us feedback and
00:21:13
continue to tell us the ways in which
00:21:15
Bitcoin can play a positive role in the
00:21:18
strategic future of this country. I know
00:21:20
the Bitcoin Policy Institute is working
00:21:22
on this very topic now, but all of you
00:21:25
have got to be involved in this
00:21:26
conversation because I don't think any
00:21:28
of us want to wake up in a country 10
00:21:31
years from now that is less wealthy and
00:21:33
less prosperous because we made bad
00:21:36
decisions today. We're going to make the
00:21:38
right decisions, but that depends on you
00:21:40
guys being part of the conversation. So,
00:21:42
be part of that conversation.
00:21:45
And
00:21:48
here's and here's the third thought that
00:21:51
I I want to leave you with. You know,
00:21:53
one of the ways you hear this stated is
00:21:54
that crypto is fundamentally a
00:21:57
conservative or right-leaning technology
00:21:59
and artificial intelligence is
00:22:01
fundamentally a left-leaning or a
00:22:03
communist technology. Now, I think that
00:22:05
overstates things a little bit in both
00:22:07
directions, but there there's a
00:22:08
fundamental element of truth to it. Now,
00:22:10
I haven't been involved in in the
00:22:13
day-to-day operations of a technology
00:22:15
company in about four years since I
00:22:17
entered politics for the very first
00:22:19
time. But what I've noticed is that very
00:22:22
smart right-wing people in tech tend to
00:22:25
be attracted to Bitcoin and crypto and
00:22:28
very smart left-leaning people in tech
00:22:31
tend to be more attracted to AI. Again,
00:22:33
that's a gross generalization. It's an
00:22:35
overstatement, but there's an element of
00:22:37
truth to it. But what I'd ask you all is
00:22:40
to remember that what happens in AI is
00:22:43
very much going to affect in good and
00:22:46
bad ways what happens to Bitcoin. And of
00:22:49
course, what happens to Bitcoin is very
00:22:51
much going to affect what happens in AI.
00:22:53
So, while this is certainly a Bitcoin
00:22:56
conference, and I know we're all proud
00:22:58
of what you guys have accomplished over
00:23:00
the last 10 years, my final piece of
00:23:02
advice is to make sure you're keeping
00:23:05
tabs on and staying involved in what's
00:23:08
happening with artificial intelligence
00:23:10
because I don't want Bitcoin to be
00:23:13
negatively affected by what happens in
00:23:14
AI. And most importantly, I don't want
00:23:17
America to be negatively affected by
00:23:19
what happens in AI. The best way to
00:23:21
ensure that smart people are at the AI
00:23:24
conversation is to ensure that Bitcoin
00:23:27
is part of the artificial intelligence
00:23:29
conversation. Our administration is
00:23:31
committed to it. I want you guys to be
00:23:33
committed to it as well.
00:23:42
I just want to say in the next few years
00:23:44
in the Trump administration, we've
00:23:45
accomplished a lot, but we have plans to
00:23:49
continue to make big progress for this
00:23:51
industry and for the American people who
00:23:53
rely on it. The whole of government,
00:23:55
we're going to need your help. We're
00:23:57
going to need your guidance. We're going
00:23:58
to need your encouragement. And at
00:24:00
times, yes, because this is politics,
00:24:02
our politicians are going to need your
00:24:04
pressure. So have fun this week, but
00:24:08
keep the pressure up and we'll do great
00:24:10
things together for our industry, but
00:24:12
most importantly for the cause of
00:24:14
personal freedom and the United States
00:24:16
of America. God bless you guys and
00:24:18
thanks for having me.
