The Bitcoin 2024 conference is taking place in Nashville — and Donald Trump’s speech, scheduled for July 27, is a highlight of the event.
The Bitcoin 2024 conference kicks off on July 25 in Nashville, Tennessee, and is set to draw a record crowd with high-profile speakers including Donald Trump, Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Russell Brand and Edward Snowden.
The Trump factor
11:26 UTC: Cointelegraph’s US news editor Sam Bourgi and reporter Ana-Paula Pereira are on the ground covering the event, providing the latest insights, images and videos from panel discussions and interviews.
Cointelegraph US News Editor Sam Bourgi, reporter Ana-Paula Pereira, and Cointelegraph Accelerator’s Kyle White attend the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
The conference has generated a lot of attention in the weeks leading up to it as prominent politicians have joined the speaking lineup for the Nashville event.
Donald Trump was the headline speaker waving ads around Nashville.
Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. are two major attractions, and other notable speakers include Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, Senator Marsha Blackburn, Cynthia Loomis
Bitcoin and Lightning Network Still Hold Hope for Retail Banking
15:26 UTC: Christian Catalini, chief strategy officer at Lightspark, and Joey Garcia, director of public affairs, policy and regulation at Xapo Bank, say Bitcoin and the Lightning Network will still have a significant impact on retail banking.
Chris Catalini of Lightspark, Joey Garcia of Xapo Bank, and Nolan Bauerle discuss the potential of Bitcoin in retail banking.
Catalini stressed that Bitcoin, since its inception, has been able to seamlessly allow its users to transfer value around the world with “deep liquidity in over 200 countries, 24/7”:
“There is only one asset, and that is Bitcoin. It has clear regulation. It has an entry and exit point in almost every country in the world.”
BlackRock’s clients are mainly interested in BTC and ETH
17:38 UTC: In a conversation with Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, Michael Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, details the global asset manager ’s move into crypto with a Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund product in 2024.
Bloomberg's James Seyffart joined BlackRock's Michael Mitchnick on the Nakamoto Main Stage.
“I would say in terms of the stage of our customers today, they are overwhelmingly interested in Bitcoin first. Of course, they are interested in Ethereum, but outside of those two currencies, there is almost no interest right now.”
Michnik added that direct investors led demand when the ETFs launched. Momentum is still building among BlackRock Wealth Advisory and institutional investors, according to the digital asset chief.
Large wealth advisory platforms such as Morgan Stanley, UBS and Merrill Lynch have not yet begun offering Bitcoin ETFs on a solicitation basis, meaning they will only offer ETFs when clients request them.
Jimmy Song criticizes conference, focuses on TradFi and ETFs
19:26 UTC: Author and Bitcoin developer Jimmy Song takes the stage at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville to denounce themes raised on the first day of the event, including banking capture, institutional investment, and the emergence of U.S. exchange-traded funds as efforts by multinational corporations and the administrative state to co-opt the Bitcoin movement.
During the panel, Song called on traditional American values and the gritty individualism and pioneering spirit inherent in Bitcoin, chastising previous panels for straying from those values to host speakers from financial institutions such as BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.
“ The great thing about Bitcoin is freedom, autonomy, and self-sovereignty. Those are the things that this country was founded on. Unfortunately, because of money, because of the power of the printing press, what we get is an administrative state that rules over us and they think they’re better than we are .”
Jimmy Song criticized the existence of traditional financial institutions such as BlackRock and their focus on banks, trading, and exchange-traded funds. He added:
“This is what I hate about Bitcoin conferences. Banks, ETFs, BlackRock. These are not my values, not Bitcoin values, and not America’s values.”
Another panelist, independent media personality Luke Rudkowski, echoed Song’s comments, explaining that Bitcoin “really provides a great opportunity for a lot of people to really see the problems that governments create,” before explaining that the scarce, decentralized asset enables people to help themselves and others independent of state structures.
2024 is the first year of mainstream adoption - Michael Saylor
As the first day of the event came to a close, Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor took part in a keynote speech scheduled for 19:00 IST on July 26th, ahead of the live broadcast of the event.
The Bitcoin advocate said 2024 will be the “first year of mainstream institutional adoption of Bitcoin.” Since announcing Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset in August 2020, Saylor’s business intelligence firm has acquired over 200,000 BTC.
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor attends Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville alongside Kyle White of Cointelegraph Accelerator.
Saylor said he continues to receive calls from CEOs of public companies and institutions interested in the Bitcoin-first investing approach that Saylor is pioneering.
Meanwhile, Saylor hinted that the presence of the two presidential candidates and other prominent U.S. senators could have a positive impact on Bitcoin.
“ I think Bitcoin is going to be good no matter what. I really don’t think any government will accept Bitcoin in the future.”
Saylor added that the question is not whether future governments are “supportive of Bitcoin,” but rather how “aggressive they will be” and “whether they move quickly or more cautiously.”
MicroStrategy’s CEO said the industry has passed a turning point in January 2024, when Bitcoin will clearly become an institutional-grade digital asset.
"As Larry Fink said, it has a place in every portfolio. It has huge global appeal. It's unique, and the world needs more of it."
