JD Vance speaking at Bitcoin event today, as Trump administration's crypto ties grow

CBS News

5 days ago

Vice President JD Vance is speaking Wednesday at a Bitcoin conference, marking the Trump administration's latest overture to the cryptocurrency industry — a once-fringe business that President Trump and his allies have embraced in recent months.
Vance is set to speak at noon ET at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas. A longstanding backer of cryptocurrencies, Vance owned between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of Bitcoin, according to an August 2024 financial disclosure.
The Las Vegas event will feature a handful of other Trump backers: His two eldest sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who have invested in crypto ventures, are speaking Wednesday on a panel about "the rise of new bitcoin business models." Chris LaCivita, who co-managed Mr. Trump's 2024 campaign, and David Sacks, a venture capitalist who serves as the White House's crypto czar, spoke on Tuesday.
Vance is the highest-ranking sitting politician to address the Bitcoin Conference, which describes itself as "the world's largest gathering of bitcoiners" and often draws crypto-friendly lawmakers. Mr. Trump, then a presidential candidate, was the headline speaker last year.
Bitcoin — and cryptocurrency more generally — has grown in prominence and drawn allies from both parties, despite skepticism about its volatility. The price of Bitcoin, the world's most widely used cryptocurrency, has leaped nearly 60% in the last year.
Mr. Trump was once a crypto skeptic, calling Bitcoin a "scam" whose value is "based on thin air." But in his second term, he has enthusiastically boosted crypto and promised to reverse strict Biden-era regulations.
Mr. Trump and his family also have financial interests in crypto, which makes up $2.9 billion of his net worth, according to one recent report. Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, announced Tuesday it is raising $2.5 billion to invest in Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, businesses linked to the president launched a Trump-branded "meme coin" earlier this year, and Mr. Trump hosted the digital currency's top investors at his Virginia golf club last week. The president and his sons are linked to crypto exchange World Liberty Financial. And Eric Trump co-founded a Bitcoin mining venture that's seeking to go public.
The moves have drawn criticism from Democrats and some ethics experts who argue Mr. Trump's crypto ventures pose a conflict of interest, and investing in them could be a quick route to gaining access to the president.
A once-bipartisan Senate bill aimed at regulating stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the value of an asset like the U.S. dollar, bled support after Democratic lawmakers pushed for restrictions on elected officials buying or selling crypto — with some Democrats directly citing Mr. Trump's crypto investments. Senators ultimately voted to advance the bill earlier this month.
The White House has strongly denied any conflict-of-interest issues, saying Mr. Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children.