The US is gearing up to make Bitcoin an integral part of its economy under President Donald Trump. This week, the annual Bitcoin Conference kicked off in Las Vegas, attracting industry leaders from around the globe. On May 28, JD Vance took centre stage at the event to outline the country’s stance on cryptocurrencies. The US Vice President stated that Bitcoin, the world’s first and most valuable cryptocurrency, will be strategically integrated into the US financial system to strengthen its position against China.
In 2021, China imposed a blanket ban on all crypto-related activities without disclosing the exact reasons. While several parts of the world are now taking an incubating approach towards crypto, China has remained firm on its crypto ban.
The US now feels that China’s distance from crypto can give it a leverage in the digital assets space under Trump’s Presidency, Vance indicated in his speech. Afterall, the US-China tensions have only intensified owing to tariff wars, trade tensions, and tech curbs in recent times.
“The People’s Republic of China doesn’t like Bitcoin. Why is our biggest adversary such an opponent of bitcoin? If the communist Republic of China is leaning away from Bitcoin, then maybe the United States ought to be leaning into Bitcoin,” Vance said in his speech.
The US Vice President reportedly told the estimated 35,000 conference attendees that Bitcoin will be able to help the unbanked US nationals become part of the financial system — which is what the US is aiming at with its vision for the sector’s development, he noted.
“Decentralised finance and crypto has transformed how Americans transact with one another. Its expanded banking for many who may not have otherwise had it. Crypto is a hedge against bad policies,” Vance noted.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $107,900 (roughly Rs. 92.2 lakh) on international exchanges, showed CoinMarketCap. At its highest so far, the asset has touched the price point of $111,500 (roughly Rs. 95.3 lakh).
Addressing the conference, Vance also spoke about the expanding experiments with blockchain use cases. He highlighted that this underlaying tech that also supports crypto can change how governments store and track logistics, supply-chain management, as well as private health records of patients.
Vance was joined by President Trump’s two sons, Eric and Donald Junior, at the event. In the backdrop of the US working to create comprehensive crypto rules, Trump’s elder son Eric reportedly said he’d love to see some big banks go extinct.
For now, the US SEC’s Crypto Task Force is expected to present its designed crypto rules before President Trump by August. Meanwhile, the task force will be meeting with crypto industry members as well as common citizens through a series of roundtable discussions on crucial crypto-related topics.