‘This is a movement’: VP Vance addresses Las Vegas bitcoin conference

Vice President JD Vance told thousands of cryptocurrency enthusiasts at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday that “this isn’t a conference of people; this is a movement.”

“This conference, this movement of people is where the future of cryptocurrency in this country gets started,” Vance said at the Venetian Convention Center.

Vance’s keynote speech took place during the second morning of the three-day convention, which is touted as the “largest bitcoin-focused event.” More than 35,000 attendees were expected Wednesday, according to BTC Inc. founder and Nakamoto CEO David Bailey, who introduced the vice president.

“We’re making history,” said Bailey, noting that this was the first bitcoin conference to take place as the digital currency’s value had surpassed $100,000 per coin.

“It’s great to be here with bitcoin at $108,000, at least when I checked this morning,” quipped Vance, who noted he owned cryptocurrency himself.

Vance’s appearance came a day after Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. announced a deal to acquire $2.5 billion in bitcoin to create a bitcoin treasury.

“Our first acquisition of a crown jewel asset, this investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions, which plague many Americans and U.S. firms,” wrote company CEO and Chairman Devin Nunes in a news release.

The coins will “create synergies for subscription payments, a utility token and other planned transactions across Truth Social and Truth+,” he added.

Several members of Congress and White House officials were scheduled to speak at the convention, as well as President Donald Trump’s two elder sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.

Trump administration’s embrace of crypto

Vance spoke about the cryptocurrency community’s embrace of President Trump’s winning campaign and what he described as a three-pronged plan the administration is taking to unshackle the cryptocurrency industry.

The first seeks to end the “weaponization” and “lawfare” of the federal government against the industry, Vance said.

“You will never see this administration trying to handicap your community or diminish the impact it’s had on the economy,” he said. “Instead, we reject the Biden administration’s legacy of death by a thousand enforcement actions. We reject regulators.”

Vance noted that Trump replaced Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“And we’re going to fire everybody like him,” he said.

The second step, Vance said, involves signing into law the bipartisan GENIUS Act, which would establish regulations for so-called “stablecoins.” The coins are low-risk crypto assets that are backed by a currency, such as the dollar, or a commodity like gold, according to the SEC.

“Regulatory uncertainty in this country has pushed way too much stablecoin activity overseas over the last few years,” Vance said.

The legislation, he said, is “poised to vastly expand the use of stablecoins as a digital payment system for millions of our fellow Americans.”

Vance said Trump would immediately sign the bill, which the U.S. Senate advanced but hasn’t received final congressional approval.

Once that happens, the administration would “fully shift to our third priority: transparent and tailored regulatory framework for digital assets,” Vance said. “One that’s pro-innovation and fully incorporates crypto into the mainstream economy.”

‘Fabulous investment’

Convention attendees spoke about their ventures into cryptocurrencies and the federal government’s messaging.

Kelly and April Weibe, a married Canadian couple, attended their first crypto-based event on Wednesday.

Kelly Weibe said he started mining bitcoin early on with an old graphics card.

“Luckily, I didn’t sell anything, and here we are today,” he said.

Kelly Weibe said he liked Vance’s message of “freedom and the regulations they’re putting in place.”

Detroit couple Meshawn and Matthew Maddock said they first heard about crypto from their teenage daughter’s friend in 2017, and eventually made their first $5,000 purchase.

It’s been a “fabulous investment,” she said. “It was money we could afford to lose if we had to lose.”

The couple, who are Trump supporters, said they agreed with Vance’s remarks.

“I think this represents more freedom for all of us,” said Michael Maddock, a Michigan state legislator. “The banking cartel is going to be very upset about this.”

Anthony Tait, a Las Vegan, expressed excitement for the future of bitcoin, which he first invested in eight years ago.

He said he missed the vice president’s speech.

“They’re just coming for the wave, they’re being scripted to come up,” he said about politicians. “We are a big community. They want us to vote for them.”

He said elected officials don’t care about crypto.

“They’re just going with the flow,” he said. “Why would they not catch this wave? Why would they exclude us?”

Randy Plett said he went “all in” on bitcoin around 2020.

“I think it’s a great move for the United States,” he said about the administration’s embrace of the coin, “because the dollar, along with Japanese bonds and the euro all are tanking right now because it’s a problem of inflation.”

Plett added: “Right now, it’s country against country. There’s only so many bitcoin, so I think (Vance) coming out here speaks volumes.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.