Former President Donald Trump positioned himself as the pro-cryptocurrency candidate by speaking at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville on Saturday.

The Republican nominee stated that the U.S. must dominate the cryptocurrency sector or risk giving ground to China. Trump vowed to make the U.S. the world’s cryptocurrency leader and embrace friendlier regulations, as opposed to Vice President Harris.

“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.

To that end, Trump vowed to create an establish presidential advisory council and create a national “stockpile” of bitcoin. This would be done using cryptocurrency already held by the U.S. government after being seized through various law enforcement operations.

“Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump said in his keynote address. “If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, the United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future.”

In addition, Trump called for increased involvement in Bitcoin mining on the sort of U.S. firms.

“This afternoon I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world and we’ll get it done,” Trump said.

free hat

Throughout his speech, Trump frequently drew a contrast between his own policies and those of the Biden-Harris Administration.

“The Biden-Harris administration’s repression of crypto and bitcoin is wrong and it’s very bad for our country,” the former president said. “Let me tell you if they win this election, every one of you will be gone. They will be vicious. They will be ruthless. They will do things that you wouldn’t believe.”

Trump also reiterated his commitment to commuting the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence for creating the black market site Silk Road. Ulbricht’s time served was “enough,” Trump said to applause and chants of “Free Ross” from the crowd.