Trump to Speak at Bitcoin Conference Despite Assassination Attempt

Former President Donald Trump has committed to delivering an in-person speech at an upcoming Bitcoin conference in Nashville, just hours after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The Bitcoin Conference, a historically popular crypto event, is slated to kick off in less than two weeks. While unable to discuss details, BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey told Decrypt that event organizers are now anticipating additional security measures at the conference where Trump will be featured as a key speaker.

“We are proud to host [Trump] and to share the solidarity of the global Bitcoin community,” the conference’s official Twitter (aka X) account stated Sunday. Organizers added they “are actively engaged with our security teams and are fully cooperating with all the relevant parties to ensure a safe event.”

The re-affirmation of Trump’s attendance follows a failed assassination attempt on the former president at a political rally in Pennsylvania Saturday, which abruptly cast uncertainty over the 2024 presidential race. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was quickly rushed away by the Secret Service in an armored vehicle following the shooting. The FBI has identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Questions immediately arose regarding upcoming campaign stops for Trump, including one of Bitcoiners’ most celebrated annual gatherings. After around 12,000 attendees from across the globe flocked to last year’s conference in Miami, the upcoming scene in Nashville is expected to draw around 20,000 people this time around, Bailey told Decrypt in a written statement.

“I have just spoken with the President’s team,” Bailey tweeted Sunday. “He is in good spirits and is excited to see you all in Nashville and deliver a speech that is heard around the world.”

Last year’s Bitcoin conference saw participation from several crypto-friendly voices in politics, including the independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Republican Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. 

This year, Kennedy is slated to return alongside Lummis, with Tennessee’s Republican Senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, also expected to appear. On top of that, the onetime presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is expected to speak at the conference.

The former president has appealed to crypto holders on the campaign trail, accepting crypto donations in May after signaling he’s “good” with crypto now at a Mar-a-Lago event for holders of his Polygon-based NFT collection. Last month, Trump specifically backed Bitcoin miners.

As other Republicans openly embrace crypto, some have followed in Trump’s footsteps, such as Blackburn, who announced her reelection campaign will accept crypto donations last week.