Trump Cites China Competition in Vowing to Create Bitcoin 'Stockpile'

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a bitcoin conference on Saturday that the US must dominate the sector or China would, his latest move to court advocates of cryptocurrency, which Beijing has restricted and which he once dismissed as a "scam." Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Trump positioned himself as the pro-cryptocurrency candidate ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, saying he would make the US the world's cryptocurrency leader and embrace friendlier regulations than likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican Party has promised lighter regulation for crypto, and Trump has slammed Democrats' attempts to regulate the sector. "If we don't embrace crypto and bitcoin technology, China will, other countries will. They'll dominate, and we cannot let China dominate. They are making too much progress as it is," Trump said.