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Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was asked to speak at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee this week, but she has decided not to attend. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is still scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin conference on July 27 at 2 p.m. CT for 30 minutes (the conference starts on July 25).
David Bailey, the CEO of the world’s largest Bitcoin conference, stated in a post on X that Harris has decided not to speak at the event. He wrote in a post yesterday: “We’re in talks with Kamala Harris campaign for her to speak at the conference. Would be very savvy of her to reset the democrat positioning on the fastest growing voter block in the country. They’re making up their minds today.”
In the morning today, he clarified that Harris won’t be attending the conference, adding, “All eyes on Trump now.”
But the crypto community wants to hear from Harris
After President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, Harris has solidified her position as the presumptive Democratic nominee. Harris’s experience with the tech industry puts her in a good position to talk about crypto. Her absence from the Bitcoin conference might disappoint the crypto community, especially since there were reports of her efforts to understand crypto more. Entrepreneur and Bitcoin enthusiast Mark Cuban stated recently that the Harris camp had contacted him with questions about crypto.
Harris has rarely discussed crypto openly, but now she has a chance to make her views on crypto regulations and policies known. The Digital Chamber, a prominent digital asset trade association, has urged Harris to support the U.S. cryptocurrency industry if she becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
All eyes are on Trump
Trump will be speaking at the Bitcoin conference on July 27. He has emerged as a crypto supporter in the past few months, declaring himself a “crypto candidate” at a Mar-a-Lago gala. Later, he announced he would accept donations in Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Solana, and other cryptocurrencies. Top cryptocurrency entrepreneurs have donated millions of dollars to the Trump campaign and endorsed him as a leader.
Who else is attending?
The Bitcoin conference in Nashville has become a political arena. Besides Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also discuss crypto during the conference. Another crypto-friendly candidate, Kennedy once said he would like to put the entire U.S. budget on the blockchain so that any American can access it anytime.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a former 2024 Republican U.S. presidential candidate and a crypto-friendly supporter, will also be speaking at the conference. Up until last year, he was the only GOP leader who supported crypto and had plans for its future. He garnered a lot of support from the crypto community before withdrawing from the presidential race. In his speeches, he often stated that he wanted to end Biden’s “war on crypto” and ensure that crypto and Bitcoin were made in America.
Crypto advocates such as ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and whistleblower Edward Snowden are among some prominent names that will attend the conference.