LAS VEGAS – Vice President JD Vance laid out the Trump administration’s vision for the future of cryptocurrency in the U.S. during an address to the annual Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon.

“As you know, there is a new sheriff in town,” Vance said. “I’m here today to say loud and clear –  with President Trump, crypto finally has an ally and a champion in the White House.”

What You Need To Know

  • Vice President JD Vance laid out the Trump administration’s vision for the future of cryptocurrency in the U.S. during an address to the annual Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon

  • The vice pesident focused on several aspects of the administration’s approach – removing red tape, pushing for legislation that encourages cryptocurrency to stay in the country and integrating the digital assets more fully into the economy.

  • Vance called on Congress to pass the GENIUS Act, a bill that would create a regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins, digital assets pegged to flat currencies like the U.S. dollar.

  • The speech comes as Trump has increasingly become more involved with cryptocurrency both in his professional and personal spheres

The vice president focused on several aspects of the administration’s approach – removing red tape, pushing for legislation that doesn't chase "this $3 trillion industry offshore” and integrating the digital assets more fully into the economy. 

“We want our fellow Americans to know that crypto and digital assets, and particularly Bitcoin, are here to stay," Vance said, speculating that the number of Americans who possess Bitcoin would soon double from 50 to 100 million. 

The vice president also noted he owned Bitcoin when he ran for his Senate seat in 2022 and still possesses “a fair amount of Bitcoin today," and CNN reported last year that the vice president listed between $250,000 to $500,000 worth of Bitcoin assets on a disclosure form.

Vance called cryptocurrency a “hedge” against federal policies, inflation and denial of service, or “de-banking,” by private companies, which President Donald Trump has accused several banks of doing to conservatives.

“Maybe most importantly, I see crypto as a hedge against one of the most dangerous trends in the digital era in both the public and the private sector,” Vance said. “And that is of elites, who rather than innovate themselves prefer to simply take over and co-opt cutting edge technologies to assert their control over other people.”

Vance called on Congress to pass the GENIUS Act, a bill that would create a regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins, digital assets pegged to flat currencies like the U.S. dollar. Introduced into the Senate in February, the bill cleared a procedural vote earlier this month with the support of several Democrats. 

“We do not think that stablecoins threaten the integrity of the United States dollar,” Vance said, “Quite the opposite, in fact. We view them as a force multiplier of our economic might.”

Urging crypto supporters to stay involved in politics, Vance praised the group for its impact on the 2024 election. 

"You chose to speak up and you chose to get involved, and I believe you changed the direct trajectory of our country," he said.

Vance’s speech comes as Trump has increasingly become more focused on cryptocurrency both in his professional and personal spheres. 

The federal government has recently taken several actions to relax restrictions on digital assets, such as the Labor Departmen rescinding its guidance Wednesday afternoon that previously discouraged employers from adding cryptocurrencies as options to their employees’ 401k plans. 

The president also signed an executive order earlier this year to establish a Bitcoin reserve and U.S. asset digital stockpile, which the White House described as “fulfilling his promise to position America as the global leader in cryptocurrency.”

Meanwhile, critics have condemned actions taken by companies connected to the Trump family as conflicts of interest. 

On Thursday, Trump hosted a gala at his Washington-area golf course for the top 220 investors in the $TRUMP memecoin, drawing rebukes from Democratic lawmakers and watchdog groups. 

And on Tuesday, Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company to Truth Social, said it plans to raise $2.5 billion in funds to build a "Bitcoin treasury."