2024

Donald Trump

Bitcoin

Disclaimer: This article was actively updated on July 25 with the latest updates from the Bitcoin 2024 conference.&nbsp;
The Bitcoin 2024 conference kicked off on July 25 in Nashville, Tennessee, with high-profile speakers, including Donald Trump, Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Russell Brand and Edward Snowden, set to draw record crowds.
<h3 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="2024-is-year-one-of-mainstream-bitcoin-adoption-michael-saylor">2024 is year one of mainstream Bitcoin adoption — Michael Saylor</h3>
8:32 pm UST: As day one drew to a close, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor joined the event livestream ahead of his keynote speech scheduled at 7:00 pm on July 26.
The Bitcoin advocate said that 2024 will go down as “year one of mainstream institutional adoption of Bitcoin.” Saylor’s business intelligence firm owns over 200,000 Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) since it announced Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset in August 2020.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/04869f97-d228-444c-990a-de23a60ad653.jpg" alt="Bitcoin 2024: Politics takes center stage in Nashville" title="">
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 MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor alongside Cointelegraph Accelerator’s Kyle White at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.
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Saylor said he continues to receive calls from the CEOs of public companies and institutions interested in the Bitcoin-first investment approach, which Saylor has, in part, pioneered.
Meanwhile, Saylor intimated that the presence of two United States presidential candidates and other prominent senators could be a positive boon for Bitcoin:
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 “I think there’s a fair wind blowing for Bitcoin regardless. I really can’t see any administration in the future not embracing Bitcoin.”
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Saylor added that it’s not a question of future governments being “pro-Bitcoin” but how “aggressively they’ll move” and whether “they move with alacrity or whether they move a bit more deliberately.”
The MicroStrategy CEO said the industry had passed an inflection point in January 2024 when it became clear that Bitcoin had become an institutional-grade digital asset.
“As Larry Fink has said, it has a place in every portfolio. It’s got enormous global appeal. It’s something that is unique and the world needs more of it,” Saylor added.
<h3 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="jimmy-song-criticizes-conference-focus-on-tradfi-and-etfs">Jimmy Song criticizes conference, focus on TradFi and ETFs</h3>
7:26 pm: Bitcoin developer and advocate Jimmy Song took a firm line during a panel featuring mixed martial arts fighter Ben Askren, aptly titled “Make Bitcoin in America Great Again.”
The author <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/jimmy-song-criticizes-btc-2024-speakers-not-what-makes-bitcoin-great">criticized the presence of traditional finance institutions</a> like BlackRock and the focus on banking, trading and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
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 Bitcoin developer and advocate <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmysong?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jimmysong</a> pulled no punches, criticizing the presence of TradFi players like BlackRock and a focus on BTC and ETH ETFs: "I hate that this is what the Bitcoin conferences are talking about - banking, ETFs, BlackRock." <a href="https://t.co/2f3ihYTE94">pic.twitter.com/2f3ihYTE94</a>— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cointelegraph/status/1816573158067175635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2024</a>
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“What makes Bitcoin great is liberty, freedom, self-sovereignty. Those are the things that this country was founded on. Unfortunately, because of the money and power of the money printing press, what we’ve gotten is an administrative state that rules over us and thinks that they’re better than us,” Song said.
He added that these undertones represent the interests of the rent-seeking class and the administrative state, which are contrary to the ideals of liberty, freedom and self-sovereignty. 
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 “I hate that this is what the Bitcoin conference are talking about. Banking, ETFs, BlackRock. Those aren’t my values, those aren’t Bitcoin values, those aren’t American values.”
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Related:<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/jimmy-song-criticizes-btc-2024-speakers-not-what-makes-bitcoin-great">&nbsp;Jimmy Song criticizes BTC 2024 speakers—'Not what makes Bitcoin great'</a>
<h3 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="blackrock-clients-are-mainly-interested-in-btc-eth">BlackRock clients are mainly interested in BTC, ETH</h3>
5:38 pm: BlackRock head of digital assets Michael Mitchnick unpacked the global asset manager’s <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-foresees-very-little-interest-crypto-etfs-beyond-bitcoin-ethereum-bitcoin2024">move into cryptocurrencies</a> through spot Bitcoin and Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price">ETH</a>) ETFs in 2024 in conversation with Bloomberg’s James Seyffart.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/b5c0d0fe-33f5-4f26-9096-c8005ada6c77.jpg" alt="Bitcoin 2024: Politics takes center stage in Nashville" title="">
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 Bloomberg’s James Seyffart alongside&nbsp;BlackRock’s&nbsp;Michael Mitchnick on the Nakamoto main stage.&nbsp;
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 “I would say that our client phase today, their interest overwhelmingly is in Bitcoin first. There’s definitely interest in Ethereum, too, but there’s very little interest today beyond those two.”
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Mitchnick&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-crypto-etfs-client-demand-2024">added that direct investors led demand</a> when the ETF was introduced. BlackRock wealth advisory and institutional investors are still gathering momentum, according to the digital assets lead.
None of the large wealth advisory platforms, like Morgan Stanley, UBS and Merrill Lynch, has begun offering Bitcoin ETFs on a solicited basis yet, meaning that they will only offer the ETFs at the client’s request.
<h2 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="bitcoin-and-lightning-still-hold-promise-for-retail-banking">Bitcoin and Lightning still hold promise for retail banking</h2>
3:26 pm: Lightspark chief strategy officer Christian Catalini and Xapo Bank&nbsp;director of public affairs, policy and regulation Joey Garcia discussed the promise that Bitcoin and the Lightning Network will still significantly impact retail banking.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/ef1d7fee-b3e1-421b-8792-f22a864c2fb0.jpg" alt="Bitcoin 2024: Politics takes center stage in Nashville" title="">
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 Lightspark’s Chris Catalini, Xapo Bank’s Joey Garcia and Nolan Bauerle discuss Bitcoin’s potential in the retail banking sector.
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Catalini <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-democratizing-investment-banking-options-lightspark-founder">emphasized the ability of Bitcoin</a> from its inception to seamlessly allow its users to transfer value globally across “more than 200 countries, every day, 24/7 with deep liquidity:”
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 “There’s only one asset and that asset is Bitcoin. It has regulatory clarity. It has on and off-ramps in pretty much every country around the globe.”
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Related:&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/vaneck-says-bitcoin-could-hit-2-9-million-per-coin-by-2050">VanEck says Bitcoin could hit $2.9 million per coin by 2050</a>
<h2 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="the-trump-factor">The Trump factor</h2>
11:26 UTC: Cointelegraph’s US news editor Sam Bourgi and journalist Ana-Paula Pereira are on the ground covering the event with the latest insights,&nbsp;pictures and video from panels and interviews.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/ae63141e-1da2-4ed0-b69c-564a15b38de9.jpg" alt="Bitcoin 2024: Politics takes center stage in Nashville" title="">
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 Cointelegraph US news editor Sam Bourgi, journalist Ana-Paula Pereira and Cointelegraph Accelerator’s Kyle White at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.
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The conference has garnered significant attention in the preceding weeks as prominent politicians joined the lineup of speakers set to feature at the event in Nashville.&nbsp;
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 Donald Trump is the headline speaker brandishing adverts around Nashville.&nbsp;
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Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr are two major drawcards along other notable speakers like Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, senators Marsha Blackburn, Cynthia Lummis&nbsp;
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/godzilla-vs-kong-can-sec-prevail-against-crypto-legal-firepower/">Godzilla vs. Kong: SEC faces fierce battle against crypto’s legal firepower</a>

Bitcoin 2024: Politics takes center stage in Nashville

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