Former U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the “Bitcoin 2024” conference that’s being held this week in Nashville, Tennessee.
Trump, who is currently running to win back the White House in a presidential election this November, is trying to court cryptocurrency investors.
However, Trump’s appearance at the Bitcoin conference marks an about face for the former president who previously criticized cryptocurrencies, calling them a “scam.”
Trump is scheduled to speak at the three-day Bitcoin conference on July 27, its last day, and is expected to draw a large crowd.
The speech by Trump comes after crypto rebounded from a difficult bear market in 2022 that was worsened by the high-profile collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Political pundits say that cryptocurrency owners and advocates are becoming a growing force this election cycle.
Trump and his conservative Republican Party are courting crypto voters with promises of lighter regulation for digital assets.
The crypto industry has also ramped up its lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
Stand With Crypto, a lobby group backed by crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), now counts more than one million advocates.
Three pro-crypto super political action committees (Super PACs) that did not exist before this election cycle have raised $230 million U.S. to support crypto friendly election candidates.
Trump’s election campaign has received millions of dollars in donations from crypto billionaires, including brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss who founded crypto company Gemini.
Currently, about 7% of American adults own some type of cryptocurrency, according to data from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
