Trump to speak at world's biggest Bitcoin conference | Bitcoin News by CoinCorner

Transcript

This week, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are reinforcing their positive stance on Bitcoin in a huge way. Could the UK be coming around to the idea of supporting Bitcoin mining on a national scale? And we have more confusion surrounding the German government and their recent decision to sell off their Bitcoin holdings.

Our first story is coming from custodial Bitcoin wallet developer Phoenix, who are continuing to improve the experience for Lightning users and businesses accepting Bitcoin. In a post on X, Phoenix have announced the release of a major update to their app, which now supports BOLT 12. BOLT 12, if you haven't heard of it, is a proposed upgrade to the Lightning Network which can enable things like reusable payment requests, increased receiver privacy, and increased censorship resistance.

Prior to this update, Lightning QR codes could be somewhat limiting for users as QR codes needed to be generated per transaction, and these codes could also expire after a certain time. But with this update, businesses will be able to reuse a single QR code to accept payments, reducing friction for transactions such as tips or donations. Phoenix have also revealed that for Android and soon iOS users, you'll be able to send payments directly to known contacts, making the whole process even more streamlined.

Our next story is coming from the city of Santa Monica in California, where they are opening an official Bitcoin office. The city council unanimously voted to pilot the office in a partnership with the non-profit Proof of Workforce at no cost to the city. They aim to achieve four main goals: provide Bitcoin education, facilitate partnerships and conferences to grow tourism, connect residents to jobs, and explore sustainable Bitcoin mining powered by the city's renewable energy.

According to an article from Bitcoin Magazine, Santa Monica is following the model of El Salvador, which became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender back in 2021. Since the bold move, El Salvador has opened up a Bitcoin office and attracted significant investment and tourism related to Bitcoin. As more places like Santa Monica explore Bitcoin, it validates the growing view that cities and countries can gain an advantage by positioning themselves as Bitcoin-friendly destinations.

Also in the United States, this week presidential candidate Donald Trump has officially been confirmed to be speaking at the world's largest Bitcoin conference in Nashville later this month. The Bitcoin Conference in previous years made headlines by having speakers such as El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, where at the event he declared Bitcoin as legal tender. It appears the Bitcoin Conference is following in this trajectory by having such high-profile speakers. This year, we're lined up to see two US presidential candidates speak at the event, with independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. and now former President Donald Trump.

Trump's positivity towards Bitcoin appears to be growing exponentially throughout his campaign, and we have even seen the Republican Party officially include crypto within their draft policy platform. Within their plan to build the greatest economy in history, crypto has been outlined as one of the key ways to champion innovation. The policy states that the Republicans will end the Democrats' "unlawful, un-American crypto crackdown" and oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency. It also mentions that they will "defend the right to mine Bitcoin and ensure that every American has the right to self-custody their digital assets and transact free of government surveillance and control."

This led prominent Bitcoin figure Nic Carter to say in a post on X that he couldn't really ask for more, and it really does seem that Trump and the Republican Party are taking Bitcoin and crypto seriously.

The German government, however, doesn't appear to be having the same positive approach to the asset. Last week, we reported that the German government appeared to be selling a large portion of their vast Bitcoin holdings, but this move has now received backlash from MPs within the administration. German MP Joana Cotar has slammed the government's decision to hastily sell Bitcoin in its possession and is even urging them to develop a comprehensive Bitcoin strategy.

In a post on X, Cotar expressed her frustrations by saying, "Instead of holding Bitcoin as a strategic reserve currency, as already being debated in the USA, our government is selling on a large scale." In a letter to the German Prime Minister, Cotar argued that Bitcoin offered an opportunity to diversify the state's assets, reducing risk associated with traditional investments. Due to Bitcoin's scarcity and deflationary nature, she suggested it can serve as a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation.

Despite all of this, the German government appears to be showing no sign of slowing down their Bitcoin sale. According to data from Arkham, their total Bitcoin holding is now down from around 50,000 Bitcoin last month to now less than 10,000. Many have shared their thoughts about this situation on X, but Charles Edwards, founder of the Capriole Fund, suggests that this move may be seen as one of the biggest geopolitical blunders of all time.

Now, our final story is coming from the UK, where last week we saw Keir Starmer become the new Prime Minister with the Labour Party following a majority win in the general election. Following this, a UK-based organisation, Bitcoin Policy UK, is advocating for the new government to implement a Bitcoin mining-based strategy to combat a growing problem of local electricity demand.

In a report issued by Bitcoin Policy UK, they outlined how Bitcoin is the perfect technology to solve the issues we face in the viability of our energy ambitions by making use of and monetising excess renewable energy that otherwise would be wasted. Co-founder Freddy Nuru said he looks forward to working with the new government on Bitcoin-related policies following the previous government, who had high hopes but fell short of turning the UK into a crypto hub.