Trump backs US Bitcoin reserves and Says a Democratic victory would be a disaster for cryptocurrencies: 'Every single one of you will be gone'

Thousands of bitcoin enthusiasts camped out for hours at a bitcoin conference in Nashville on Saturday to see the self-proclaimed cryptocurrency candidate.

Nashville - Former US President Donald Trump pledged to maintain a "strategic national reserve" of bitcoin and "never sell" bitcoin seized by the government in a free-spirited speech that further solidified the Republican candidate's influence in the cryptocurrency voting and fundraising blocks.

Prior to the event, cryptocurrency supporters had speculated and hoped that Trump would announce such a reserve.

Looking into a packed hall of more than 3,000 attendees at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Trump said of Bitcoin: "I want it to be mined, minted and made in the United States." He then proposed a "comprehensive" cryptocurrency policy that covers everything from stablecoin regulation to bitcoin's self-custody rights.

The speech marked Bitcoin's steady progress from the deepest corners of the Internet to the center of American politics - once the much-maligned currency of choice for darknet markets.

"If we don't do it, China will," he said of embracing digital assets. Cryptocurrencies are "what the steel industry was 100 years ago, and you're just getting started." "It may surpass gold one day," he said. "... There's never been anything like it."