US Vice President JD Vance delivered a speech at the Bit Conference in Las Vegas yesterday (28th), which was his first public address at the world's largest Bit conference. The key points of his speech include:
- Vance emphasized Bit as a hedge against Washington's poor policy-making, pointing out its potential to protect against inflation and private sector discrimination.
- He discussed Bit's strategic importance to the United States, suggesting that the US should embrace cryptocurrency in its competition with China, which opposes Bit.
- Vance announced government priorities to eliminate regulatory burdens on the crypto industry, including terminating the "Strangulation Plan 2.0" and dismissing regulators like Gary Gensler.
- He supported the GENIUS Act, claiming that dollar-anchored stablecoins would benefit the US economy once implemented, refuting concerns about threatening the US dollar.
- Vance advocated for creating a regulatory framework favorable to digital assets, aiming to integrate cryptocurrencies into the mainstream economy and ensure financial sovereignty.
- He noted the intersection of artificial intelligence and Bit, suggesting that AI's development could profoundly impact Bit's future in both positive and negative ways.
https://www.youtube.com/live/U2yfOZPa0gM?si=B7pbXMDG45_rwOf6
Vance's Full Speech
Thank you everyone!
[The rest of the translation continues in the same professional manner, maintaining the specific translations for technical terms as instructed.]You know that a new sheriff is now in town. Over the past four years, the Democratic Party's regulators' mistreatment and open hostility towards the crypto community have forced the country's legislators to choose: Are we going to lead the nation towards financial sovereignty, innovation, and prosperity, or let unelected bureaucrats and foreign competitors set the rules for us? Today, I stand here to clearly tell you that under President Trump's leadership, cryptocurrency finally has defenders and allies in the White House!
In our government, we understand the full potential of the digital asset industry, not just as an investment or cool technology, but as a symbol and driving force of personal freedom for all citizens. We are committed to realizing this promise. We believe that the people in this room are the digital pioneers of the American economy, which is why our government has done something unusual in Washington: We are listening to you because you are paving the way for innovation. You innovators are improving people's lives, pushing boundaries, solving problems, and injecting unprecedented transparency into business operations. We believe you deserve the same transparency and clarity, and most importantly, you deserve government respect and support, not bureaucrats trying to suppress you.
This means some concrete, practical steps. First and foremost, we must clean up the wasteland left by the previous administration. From day one, we have been working to do this. We prioritize eliminating the previous administration's rules, red tape, and legal battles against cryptocurrency. We are ending the federal regulatory weaponization of this community. Simply put, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 under the Trump administration is dead and will not be revived!
By the way, it's crazy that this approach was even controversial! Using government regulatory power to suppress an industry, to suppress those whose views you don't like, is crazy! Let my words today serve as the obituary for Operation Chokepoint.
I promise every person here: You will never see this administration trying to weaken your community or diminish its economic impact. Instead, we reject the Biden administration's piecemeal enforcement actions. We reject those regulators, especially we fired Gary Gensler, and we will fire all those like him!
We know that people like Gary Gensler, under the guise of consumer protection, attack every effort to democratize financial markets. This is all over!
I come from a working-class family, and I believe America is a place where anyone, regardless of background or education, can become wealthy. In recent years, I can't think of a better place to achieve this than the digital asset industry.
Our second concrete step is to create a clear, growth-promoting legal framework for stablecoins in this country. I know we have some solid allies in Congress. Is Cynthia Lummis here today? Or has she already gone home? I was supposed to have dinner with Cynthia last night, but I looked around the event venue, asking: Where is Cynthia Lummis? Someone said she had another dinner to attend. I said: I'm the Vice President! Unless she's having dinner with the President, she has no reason to miss this event! But we love Cynthia, and I know she is one of the greatest defenders of your industry in Congress.
Under Cynthia's and other excellent legislators' leadership, Congress is working to pass the Genius Act as soon as possible and send it to the President's desk. This is an important step. Because in the past few years, regulatory uncertainty has pushed too many stablecoin activities overseas.
Someone told me yesterday that Bitcoin has achieved so much despite facing so many headwinds in recent years. Wouldn't it be better to have a government that provides tailwinds for the country's fastest-growing industry? That's our goal!
Once the Genius Act passes, it will greatly expand the use of stablecoins as a digital payment system for millions of Americans. It will also protect coin holders and inject more transparency into the market. I want to emphasize one point: In our administration, we do not believe stablecoins threaten the integrity of the US dollar. On the contrary! We believe stablecoins are multipliers of our economic strength. Especially after the Genius Act passes, stablecoins pegged to the US dollar will only help the US economy and the US dollar. So, we optimistically look forward to the Senate quickly passing a clean Genius Act, with the House following suit. Once this happens, our great President Trump will sign it into law the moment it reaches his desk!
When all this is achieved, we will turn to our third priority: developing a transparent and tailored digital asset regulatory framework that promotes innovation and fully integrates cryptocurrency into the mainstream economy. In the past few days, I've spoken with many of you, and a common concern I heard is that despite many good things happening in recent months, some still believe digital assets are unwelcome in the mainstream economy. I assure you, our policy changes are precisely to change this. We want the American people to know that cryptocurrency, digital assets, especially Bitcoin, are part of the mainstream economy and will always be!
We believe the legislative approach to achieving this goal is through a market structure act that defends, rather than restricts, the extraordinary value of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Now, in this Congress and this administration, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unleash innovation and use it to improve the lives of countless American citizens. But if we cannot create regulatory clarity now, we risk pushing this $3 trillion industry overseas to seek more friendly jurisdictions. President Trump will fight to ensure this does not happen!
Think about it, by establishing wise, innovation-promoting rules, we can also ensure that the Democratic Party or anyone else can never again wage war on the cryptocurrency community!
I've gone overtime, but before returning to Washington, I want to give you some advice and thoughts on the future of this industry. This is a perspective from a political figure, which might be worth slightly less than a Bit, but hear me out.
First, recall when I first ran for Senate in 2022, I was the only candidate who truly owned Bit. Today, I still own quite a few Bit. That was during the 2021 and 2022 campaign season, which feels like forever ago, but was actually just four years ago. I recognized that the Biden administration and Gary Gensler's approach was a disaster. However, at the political level, there seemed to be no real organization to fight back.
I want to say that I stand here today, partly because you organized and participated in American politics. I am grateful to you! But this experience teaches us a lesson: unless you participate in politics, politics will ignore this industry. You took an important step in 2024, but I want to tell you that every victory is only temporary.
Bit is called digital gold, but while Bit is digital, we are not. What happens in the political and bureaucratic world will affect even the most transformative and valuable technologies if we do not make the right decisions. So my first recommendation is to continue the momentum of political participation in 2024 into 2026 and beyond. Do not ignore politics, because I guarantee that politics will not ignore this community, now or in the future!
Second, I want to say that we must start thinking about the long-term strategic impact of Bit. Currently, about 50 million Americans own Bit, and many have created wealth through it, which is a good thing. But I believe that Bit will become a strategic important asset for the United States in the next ten years. This is why President Trump, with the help of our great AI expert David Sacks, launched the Bit Reserve Program. We hope to start promoting the strategic importance of Bit to the US government.
We know that China (PRC) does not like Bit. If our biggest opponent opposes Bit, we should ask ourselves why. If the Communist Republic of China stays away from Bit, then perhaps the United States should more actively embrace Bit. This is one of the things we are going to do.
But this is not a lecture from the Vice President to you. How Bit participates in our country's strategic future must be a two-way dialogue. You need to continue to provide feedback, telling us how Bit can play a positive role in this country's strategic future. I know the Bit Policy Institute is studying this issue, but all of you must participate in this dialogue. Because no one wants to wake up ten years from now and find that the country has become poorer and less prosperous because of the wrong decisions we made today. We will make the right decisions, but it depends on your participation in this dialogue!
Lastly, the third idea I want to share is that you may have heard that crypto is essentially a conservative or right-leaning technology, while AI is a left-leaning or communist technology. I think this is exaggerated in both directions, but there is some truth to it. I have not been involved in the daily operations of tech companies for four years, but I have noticed that very smart right-wing people in the tech world tend to be attracted to Bit and crypto, while very smart left-wing people tend to be more inclined towards AI. This is a rough generalization, but there is some truth to it.
I want you to remember that the development of AI will affect Bit in both good and bad ways, and the development of Bit will also affect AI. Although this is a Bit conference, I know we are all proud of your achievements over the past decade, but my final recommendation is to ensure that you pay attention to and participate in the development of AI. I do not want Bit to be negatively affected by the development of AI, and more importantly, I do not want the United States to be negatively affected by the development of AI. The best way to ensure smart people are in the AI dialogue is to ensure that Bit is part of the AI dialogue. Our government is committed to this, and I hope you will be equally committed.
In the coming years, the Trump administration has already achieved many successes, but we plan to continue to make significant progress for this industry and the Americans who depend on it. We need your help, your guidance, and your encouragement. Sometimes, because this is politics, our political figures also need your pressure. So, enjoy this week, but keep the pressure on, and we will do great things together for this industry, for personal freedom, and for the great cause of America!
