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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News. Nashville was the place

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Speaker 1: to be this past weekend if you were a crypto enthusiast,

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Speaker 1: and even if you're more of a skeptic.

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Speaker 2: I'm in the exhibit hall at Bitcoin Nashville and now

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna do a walkthrough of the Bitcoin art exhibit.

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Speaker 2: Got cipher Punks of the world.

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg reporter Zeke Fox was in Music City at the

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Speaker 1: site of the annual Bitcoin Conference, taking it all in.

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Speaker 2: I'm standing a little close to it. Yeah, it's definitely

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Speaker 2: the assassination attempt photo, the famous one with the Trumps

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Speaker 2: standing and saying fight artist statement. It says, Bitcoin, like

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Speaker 2: Donald Trump, has been a polarizing figure, villainized and criticized

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Speaker 2: by many. The painting consists of thousands of dots made

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Speaker 2: with the ash from burnt Fiat banknotes.

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Speaker 3: There you go.

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Speaker 1: This wasn't his first time at one of these. Zeke

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Speaker 1: wrote a book called Number Go Up, Inside Crypto's Wild

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Speaker 1: Rise and Staggering Fall. But what was different about this

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Speaker 1: year's Bitcoin conference was the lineup and who the headliner was.

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Speaker 4: Hello, Bitcoiners, thank you very much.

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Speaker 5: Hello, it's good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: It's good to be with you, Former President Donald Trump.

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Speaker 5: I'm thrilled to be here in Nashville to become the

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Speaker 5: first American president ever to address a bitcoin event anywhere

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Speaker 5: in the world, anywhere in the world.

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Speaker 1: His appearance at the annual conference was something of a

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Speaker 1: seminal moment for what had once been a fringe financial movement,

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Speaker 1: and that wasn't lost on those who bought a ticket.

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Speaker 6: I was generally excited because this is the first time

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Speaker 6: where we are no longer some niche group of of

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Speaker 6: funny money or fraud money, as JP Morgan likes to

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Speaker 6: call us, but we're We're at the center stage.

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Speaker 7: I think it's a historical moment to, you know, have

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Speaker 7: a presidential candidate that has very high chances of winning

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Speaker 7: the you know, the elections, to come out here and

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Speaker 7: try to wrangle votes from bitcoiners.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 1: And it wasn't just Trump who was there. There was

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Speaker 1: RFK Junior, as well as Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, a

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Speaker 1: Republican who plans to introduce a major bill about crypto.

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Speaker 1: In fact, ten senators were there and Senate hopefuls like

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Speaker 1: John Deeton, another Republican who's challenging Senator Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts.

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Speaker 1: And we've seen that voting pue crypto or bitcooling enthusiast

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Speaker 1: can make a difference. And so we're in an electioneer.

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Speaker 1: So it doesn't surprise me that politicians are jumping worn,

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Speaker 1: but for Trump it's a bit murkier. Is the forty

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Speaker 1: fifth president of the United States a crypto convert? Was

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Speaker 1: he there to raise cash to court voters?

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Speaker 5: I pledge to the bitcoin community that the day I.

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Speaker 3: Take the oath of office, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris's anti

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Speaker 3: crypto crusade will be over.

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Speaker 1: It will end, It'll be done. It'll be done. I'm

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Speaker 1: David Gerra, and this is the big take from Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: News on today's episode. Trump's conversion from crypto skeptic to

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Speaker 1: crypto enthusiast and the impact that could have on the

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Speaker 1: presidential race and his campaign coffers.

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Speaker 2: I don't even want to count how many crypto conferences

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Speaker 2: I've been to.

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Fox has been to a lot

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Speaker 1: of crypto conferences. In fact, this was his third time

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Speaker 1: at this particular event, which is focused exclusively on bitcoin.

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Speaker 2: So this conference is it's the Bitcoin Conference. It's actually

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Speaker 2: leave a rule that you can't mention other coins while

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Speaker 2: they're on stage.

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Speaker 1: Since he's been going to the Bitcoin conference, the industry

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Speaker 1: has changed dramatically. His first time was back in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one. It was in Miami, and Zeke says the

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Speaker 1: atmosphere was euphoric.

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Speaker 2: Crypto was booming, and there was this sense that riches

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Speaker 2: were around the corner for anyone if they really set

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Speaker 2: their mind to it.

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Speaker 1: But this year, even though bitcoin prices are higher than

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Speaker 1: they were in twenty twenty one, it says, the feeling

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Speaker 1: at this conference was more muted.

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Speaker 2: I felt like this was a more subdued crowd and

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Speaker 2: that the people here were frankly, not as excited as

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Speaker 2: I expected that they had gotten Trump to come speak

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Speaker 2: to them and endorse their favorite thing, Bitcoin.

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Speaker 1: Zeke spoke to a lot of bitcoin enthusiasts in Nashville

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Speaker 1: trying to get a sense of how they felt about Trump.

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Speaker 2: I was walking around the exhibit hall and I saw

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Speaker 2: a man sitting under there was like a giant wizard

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Speaker 2: hat suspended from the ceiling that covered a seating area

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Speaker 2: that's advertising this wizard themed bitcoin project. And I saw

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Speaker 2: a guy sitting there with a couple of patchwork quilts

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Speaker 2: that were very pretty, and I sat down and introduced myself.

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Speaker 2: So could you introduce yourself? Like, where are you from?

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Speaker 4: What's your name?

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Speaker 8: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: My name is Can I just go buy a name

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Speaker 2: if you if you prefer, it's okay, okay? Can you

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Speaker 2: write colonel Colonel Stacker? How do you It's like it's

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Speaker 2: a second colonel with a K.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Colonel Colonel Stacker is obviously not his real name,

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Speaker 1: but he told Zeke he was a truck driver from

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati who makes and sells bitcoin quilts with his mind.

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Speaker 2: This looks really nice? Do you make them yourself? My

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Speaker 2: mom is the quilter.

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Speaker 6: The I do this.

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Speaker 2: I'm learning how to stitch right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Bitcoin quilts and pseudonyms aside. Ohio is of course

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Speaker 1: a critical state in the upcoming presidential election, so Zeke

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Speaker 1: asked the colonel what role, if any, Bitcoin is playing

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Speaker 1: in who he votes for.

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Speaker 2: Did you in twenty sixteen and twenty twenty did you

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Speaker 2: vote for Trump? Back then?

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Speaker 7: No?

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Speaker 2: You go Democrat or third party or I've always been

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Speaker 2: like if anything libertarian US. Yeah, do you think you'll

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Speaker 2: vote for Trump this time? It's a possibility. Yeah, I

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Speaker 2: just might.

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Speaker 1: According to Zeke, this was a pretty common view everyone.

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Speaker 2: I spoke to, I'd ask them, what do you think

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Speaker 2: about Trump's coming to speak here? Are you excited? Does

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Speaker 2: this change what you think of him? And frankly, most

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Speaker 2: people already supported Trump and now would continue to support him,

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Speaker 2: or already supported RFK Junior, and we're planning to continue

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Speaker 2: to support him, but open to maybe switching to Trump

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Speaker 2: if they thought, you know, it is a close election,

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Speaker 2: maybe you've got to be pragmatic. I mean, we've got

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Speaker 2: Kennedy by so would that be a wasted vote? You know,

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Speaker 2: It's kind of where I'm at, So I guess Trump's.

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Speaker 3: The only choice.

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Speaker 7: So I'm on the realm where I don't mind if

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Speaker 7: RFK or Trump wins as long as Biden I guess, now, Kamala.

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Speaker 2: Those are RFK and.

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Speaker 5: Trump are in my book, I'd be happy with either candidate.

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Speaker 2: Are you going to vote for Trump this time?

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Speaker 6: You know?

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Speaker 5: I don't know, But at the moment, I'm voting for

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Speaker 5: whatever the most bitcoin candidate is.

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Speaker 1: But if the attendees were luke warm, the big surprise

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Speaker 1: was just how pro crypto the former president was when

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Speaker 1: he had rest the crowd.

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Speaker 2: So I've never been to a Trump rally before, and

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Speaker 2: I was kind of impressed with how well he worked

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Speaker 2: the audience.

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Speaker 3: This afternoon, I'm laying out my plan to ensure that

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Speaker 3: the United States will be the crypto capital of the

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Speaker 3: planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world, and we'll

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Speaker 3: get it done.

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Speaker 2: Kid Rock got a shout out, and also all the

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Speaker 2: bitcoinners who are now supporting him, So the Winklevoss twins.

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Speaker 2: He talked about how handsome they were.

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Speaker 4: These are great guys. They look like mail models with

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Speaker 4: a brain, you know, the mail models with a big,

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Speaker 4: beautiful brain.

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Speaker 2: The biggest applause line for Trump was he said that

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Speaker 2: he would fire Gary Gensler, the head of the SEC.

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Speaker 2: Under his watch, the SEC has sued a number of

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Speaker 2: crypto companies.

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Speaker 3: One day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and a

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Speaker 3: point a knew SEC Chairney.

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Speaker 2: This line was so successful that after he got some

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Speaker 2: applause for it, he actually was like, oh, you guys

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Speaker 2: really liked that one. So he said it again.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know he was that unpopular.

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Speaker 4: Wow, I didn't know you was that unpopular.

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Speaker 1: Let me say it again.

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Speaker 5: On day one, I will fire Gary against me.

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Speaker 2: He said, you know, if bitcoin's going to the moon,

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Speaker 2: the US should lead the way. He said, you know,

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Speaker 2: we can't let China dominate this industry, which is kind

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Speaker 2: of weird because China has actually made moves to ban

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Speaker 2: the crypto industry. But the big thing that Trump announced

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Speaker 2: at the end was that the US will establish a

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Speaker 2: strategic Bitcoin reserve.

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Speaker 5: That if I am elected, it will be the policy

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Speaker 5: of my administry United States of America to keep one

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Speaker 5: hundred percent of all the bitcoin the US government currently

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Speaker 5: hals or acquires into the future.

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Speaker 4: We'll keep one hundred percent.

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Speaker 1: I hope you do well.

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Speaker 4: Please.

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Speaker 2: There was no talk of sam bankmin freed FTX, all

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Speaker 2: the crypto scams that we've seen in the last couple

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Speaker 2: of years, like even these bitcoinners would tell you there

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Speaker 2: was like a million scams. If anything, the enforcement should

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Speaker 2: have been quicker. You know, we should be saying, why

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Speaker 2: didn't you stop all these crypto scams? But none of that, no,

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Speaker 2: none of that. I was impressed by how successful the

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Speaker 2: bitcoin industry was at getting Trump on their side. He

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Speaker 2: really said a lot of the things that they would

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Speaker 2: have wanted him to say.

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Speaker 1: Coming up after the break inside Trump's transformation from crypto

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Speaker 1: skeptic to crypto enthusiast and what that means for the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four US presidential race. When Donald Trump was

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Speaker 1: in the White House, he wasn't a bitcoin booster. Far

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Speaker 1: from it. But Trump's attitude changed in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 4: Hello everyone, this is Donald Trump, hopefully your favorite president

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Speaker 4: of all time, better than Lincoln, better than Washington. With

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Speaker 4: an important announcement to make, I'm doing my first official

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Speaker 4: Donald J. Trump NFT collection right here and right now.

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Speaker 4: They're called Trump Digital Trading Cards.

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Speaker 1: Trump recognized there was money to be made in crypto,

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Speaker 1: and part of his pitch was if you bought one

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Speaker 1: of those non fungible tokens, you'd get a chance to

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Speaker 1: meet us.

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Speaker 4: Here's one of the best parts. Each card comes with

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Speaker 4: an automatic chance to win amazing prizes like dinner with me.

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Speaker 5: I don't know if that's an amazing prize, but it's

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Speaker 5: what we have.

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Speaker 1: Each of those NFTs cost ninety nine bucks and they

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Speaker 1: sold out, and Bloomberg Zeek Fox says Trump made good

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Speaker 1: on at least one of those amazing prizes he teased

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Speaker 1: in that ad.

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Speaker 2: So a few months ago there was this big gathering

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Speaker 2: of people who bought the Trump cards at mar Lago.

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Speaker 2: Trump was there and he said some nicer things about crypto,

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Speaker 2: and I think was pleased by the response.

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Speaker 1: In the months that followed, Trump held another crypto get

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Speaker 1: together at his club in South Florida with bitcoin miners,

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Speaker 1: and according to Zeke, he listened as they talked about

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Speaker 1: the industry.

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Speaker 2: Some people have been throwing out this idea that this

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Speaker 2: is a way to win votes. I am unconvinced.

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Speaker 1: But according to Zeke, that was the message. On stage

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Speaker 1: in Nashville, Trump, RFK Junior, and a handful of lawmakers

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Speaker 1: appealed to the crypto community for their votes as they

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Speaker 1: criticized the current president for not embracing what they see

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Speaker 1: as the future of finance. But interestingly, Zeke said, several

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Speaker 1: of the conference goers he talked to said they were

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Speaker 1: reserving judgment on Vice President Harris.

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Speaker 2: There's been no word from her campaign officially about what

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Speaker 2: she thinks about crypto.

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Speaker 1: In recent days, there have been reports Harris's campaign has

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Speaker 1: reached out to prominent players in the world of crypto,

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Speaker 1: and there's bipartisan pressure for her to embrace the crypto

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Speaker 1: community as a potentially decisive voting block.

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Speaker 2: A group of Democrats sent a letter to Harris saying

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Speaker 2: that crypto was on the top of voters' minds in

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Speaker 2: swing states and that they Harris should get with the program.

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Speaker 2: I just think that's really unlikely, and that honestly, the

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Speaker 2: average person you've asked them about crypto has a low

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Speaker 2: opinion of crypto but doesn't care that much.

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Speaker 1: Zeke left the Bitcoin conference in Nashville with a sense

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Speaker 1: that just as Donald Trump's attitude toward crypto has changed,

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Speaker 1: there's also been an evolution in bitcoin.

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Speaker 2: More broadly, It's supposed to be a way to resist censorship,

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Speaker 2: resist the state. This idea that somehow it needs the

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Speaker 2: state is anathetical to its origins, and I was kind

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Speaker 2: of expecting to meet more people at the conference who

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Speaker 2: felt that way.

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Speaker 1: But Zeke says that anti government, anti establishment ethos has

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Speaker 1: started to fade. Now some of its biggest proponents are

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Speaker 1: cowtowing to political candidates, and they're suggesting the US government

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Speaker 1: should hold millions of dollars worth of bitcoin. Zeke wonders

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Speaker 1: if Trump's decision to embrace crypto has anything to do

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Speaker 1: with that philosophy, or if his calculus is much simpler.

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Speaker 2: A lot of industries want you to take controversial positions

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Speaker 2: in exchange for their support. With bitcoiners, you just have

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Speaker 2: to say nice things about bitcoin and they'll write you

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Speaker 2: a check. So, in my opinion, it's kind of an

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Speaker 2: easy way to raise some money.

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Speaker 1: Which is exactly what happened in Nashville. Trump spoke, he

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Speaker 1: railed against regulation, he spoke admiringly of crypto's potential, and

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Speaker 1: now the price of bitcoin is to almost seventy thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars on Monday, not far from its record high, and

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Speaker 1: Trump went to a fundraiser where tickets cost more than

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Speaker 1: eight hundred grand each.

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Speaker 2: Numbers being thrown around at this fundraiser could have raised

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Speaker 2: thirty or fifty million.

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Speaker 1: According to a Bloomberg analysis, crypto donors have given more

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Speaker 1: money this cycle than in all the past ones put together,

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Speaker 1: and that's before this weekend's haul. Zeke spoke to Mike Belshie,

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Speaker 1: the CEO of bitco, who's hosting a fundraising dinner with

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Speaker 1: Trump's running mate, Senator j d Vance on Monday. Thirty

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Speaker 1: three hundred dollars gets you a seat. Twenty five thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars secures you a place on a round table, but

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Speaker 1: Belchie says he's not just courting Republicans.

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Speaker 8: So you know, there's this phrase, and I don't know

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Speaker 8: who it's distributed to, but you know, first they ignore you,

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Speaker 8: then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and

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Speaker 8: then you win. And I think for bitcoin, we're somewhere

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Speaker 8: in between those last two stages, right and those people

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Speaker 8: in the Republican Party that don't think cryptos are good idea.

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Speaker 8: There's people in the Democratic Party that don't think crypto

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Speaker 8: a good idea, but that doesn't mean that the party

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Speaker 8: thinks that it's about idea. And I think what we're

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Speaker 8: seeing is that shift. Right now, Kamala Harris is going

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Speaker 8: to come out total pro crypto to try to diffuse

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Speaker 8: any advantage that Trump may have with it, you know,

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Speaker 8: with being pro crypto.

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Speaker 1: But for those in attendance at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville,

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Speaker 1: should Trump win or lose, they believe in one thing

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Speaker 1: fervently that Bitcoin's price can only do one thing, go up.

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Speaker 7: When you look at the.

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Speaker 1: Blockchain and where this thing's going with bitcoin, and now.

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Speaker 6: With Trump support it and all these politicians getting behind it,

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Speaker 6: how can you not believe?

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Speaker 1: I always said, and when I first got into bitcoin.

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Speaker 1: If I could ever, if they'll politics and crypto can

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Speaker 1: kind of collide together and.

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Speaker 8: I can make an impact in regards to that, that

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Speaker 8: would be a dream come true.

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Speaker 1: It's coming true.

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Speaker 5: Thank you all. Have a good time with you a

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Speaker 5: bitcoin and and everything else that you're playing with, and

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Speaker 5: we're going to make that one of the greatest industry er.

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Speaker 1: This is the Big Take from Bloomberg News. I'm David Gura.

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Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Thomas Leu and Alex Sagura,

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Speaker 1: who also mixed this episode. It was fact checked by

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Speaker 1: Andreana Tapia. Our senior producers are Naomi Shaven and Kim Gettleson,

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Speaker 1: who also edited this episode with Mike Reagan. Our senior

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Speaker 1: editor is Elizabeth Ponso. Nicole Beemster bor is Our executive producer.

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Speaker 1: Sage Bauman is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for listening. Please follow and review The Big Take wherever

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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It helps new listeners find the show.

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Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow.