Crypto
Trump Will Headline Bitcoin 2024 Conference—His Latest ‘Crypto President’ Rebrand Effort
Topline
Former president and one-time bitcoin detractor Donald Trump will speak at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, this weekend alongside other political figures, looking to further his rebrand as a “crypto president” ahead of Election Day.
Trump will speak at the conference on Saturday. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Characterized as the world’s largest bitcoin conference, the three-day event hosted at the Music City Center convention complex features a wide range of speakers such as independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., political commentator and comedian Russell Brand and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
The conference features educational panels, networking opportunities and entertainment experiences such as a Karate Combat/Influencer Fight Club viewing and a screening of a bitcoin movie, “God Bless Bitcoin,” which features interviews with people such as billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.
Trump will give a 30-minute keynote address Saturday during the conference’s final day, in a speech that will likely attempt to court voters and capitalize on support he has already received from key cryptocurrency figures like the Winklevoss twins.
Tickets to the conference are pricey, starting at $699 and reaching as high as $21,000 for a single ticket—though prospective attendees can get tickets at a 21% discount if they purchase them with bitcoin.
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Surprising Fact
Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind one of the largest classified documents leaks in the history of the National Security Agency, is expected to speak Friday from Russia, and has called the cryptocurrency “the most significant monetary advance since the creation of coinage.”
Tangent
Bitcoin traded down more than 2% at just under $65,000 Thursday afternoon, having mostly plateaued in the last three months, posting gains of a fraction of a percent. It has surged more than 53% since the start of the year.
Big Number
$1.8 million. That is how many dollars worth of bitcoin Trump supporters donated to the Republican nominee through the end of June, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Key Background
The bitcoin conference has historically been used by public figures and companies as an event to announce partnerships and initiatives. In 2021, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced at the event that the country would be making bitcoin a legal tender. Attendance has been inconsistent in recent years, as 25,000 people appeared at the convention in 2022 (when the crypto market experienced one of its worst crashes ever) and 12,000 attended in 2023, according to Bloomberg. Bitcoin 2024 has yet to share attendance numbers, though big-name speakers like Trump could generate more tickets than prior years.
What Has Donald Trump Said About Bitcoin?
Trump has increasingly warmed up to cryptocurrency as Election Day draws closer, ditching the skepticism he had for it years ago. While president in 2019 he said he was not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, calling their values “highly volatile and based on thin air” in a tweet. He also told Fox News in 2021 bitcoin “just seems like a scam,” saying he did not like it “because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.” Since then, Trump has embraced cryptocurrency, allowing supporters to donate to his campaign with bitcoin and selecting a running mate in JD Vance, R-Ohio, who supports and owns at least $100,000 worth of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency market may benefit from Trump winning in November, with bitcoin remaining “sensitive” to the election as its price is “positively correlated with the probability” of a Trump victory, according to Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani. Trump’s Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris, is likely to adopt the regulation-centric crypto policies of her former running mate, President Joe Biden.
Further Reading
Billionaire Winklevoss Twins Donate $2 Million In Bitcoin To Support Donald Trump (Forbes)
Are Trump And Vance Good For Bitcoin? Here’s Why The Market Thinks So—Even Though Trump’s Called It A ‘Scam.’ (Forbes)
Crypto
Trust Wallet Adds AI Transaction Layer to Self-Custody Wallet Infrastructure
Trust Wallet Agent Kit: AI Can Now Act on Your Crypto — With Your Permission
The kit ships in two configurations. In the first, developers set up a dedicated wallet built specifically for AI agent activity, where users define permissions upfront, and the agent can run automated strategies like dollar-cost averaging, limit orders, and price alerts, without asking for approval on every transaction.
In the second configuration, an AI agent connects to a user’s existing Trust Wallet through Walletconnect, proposes transactions, and waits for the user to approve them before anything moves. The firm notes that the user’s custody stays intact throughout.
The release follows Trust Wallet’s Developer Portal, which opened last week with read-only access to crypto data across more than 100 blockchains, including live prices, token metadata, and onchain risk signals. The Agent Kit extends that foundation by adding the ability to act, not just observe.
At launch, supported networks include Ethereum-compatible chains, Solana, Bitcoin, BNB Chain, Cosmos, TON, Aptos, Tron, NEAR, and Sui. Trust Wallet says that coverage makes it the broadest chain-compatible AI wallet infrastructure currently available.
The kit integrates with Model Context Protocol (MCP), the standard developers use to connect AI systems to external platforms, and is available through a command line interface. According to the company’s announcement, a developer can go from account creation to a working AI agent in under 15 minutes.
Out-of-the-box features include token swaps, limit orders, automated strategies, ENS resolution, ERC-20 approvals, message signing, portfolio tracking, wallet auto-lock, and a REST API for deeper integrations.
Felix Fan, CEO of Trust Wallet, remarked in a statement that AI agents need a trusted layer before they can safely act on a user’s finances. The Agent Kit, he said, gives developers the tools to build agents that execute on real wallets within rules the user sets.
Trust Wallet, which reports more than 220 million downloads, describes its broader goal as becoming the self-custody infrastructure for AI-powered finance, a foundational layer that lets AI participate in crypto workflows without users surrendering ownership of their assets.
The company plans to bring AI features directly to end users inside the Trust Wallet app over the coming months, with in-wallet insights, automated strategies, and personalized alerts. A separate Agent Marketplace is also on the roadmap, where developers can publish reusable agent strategies and trading bots for users to deploy directly from their wallets.
Trust Wallet’s development arrives as a growing number of crypto firms roll out services and features tailored to the emerging agentic economy. Since the debut of Openclaw, interest in AI agents has accelerated profoundly, with companies such as Circle, Binance, Coinbase, and a myriad of others unveiling tools and infrastructure focused squarely on this evolving segment.
FAQ 🔎
- What is the Trust Wallet Agent Kit? It is a developer tool that allows AI agents to execute real crypto transactions on a user’s wallet across more than 25 supported blockchains.
- How does Trust Wallet keep users in control of AI transactions? Users can require per-transaction approval through WalletConnect or configure preset permissions on a dedicated agent wallet before any automation runs.
- What blockchains does the Trust Wallet Agent Kit support? At launch it supports Ethereum-compatible chains, Bitcoin, Solana, BNB Chain, Cosmos, TON, Aptos, Tron, NEAR, and Sui.
- Where can developers access the Trust Wallet Agent Kit? The kit is available now via the Trust Wallet Developer Portal at portal.trustwallet.com.
Crypto
Cedar Falls delays public hearing on crypto mining operation, power plant
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (KCRG) – Cedar Falls city officials postponed a public hearing on zoning and code changes needed for a proposed power plant and cryptocurrency mining operation.
The hearing was pushed back to April 22 amid concerns from residents about environmental impacts and utility costs.
Cedar Falls Utility and Simple Mining, the company behind the cryptocurrency operation, say their projects will not negatively impact the public or the environment. Residents at Tuesday night’s meeting showed skepticism about those claims.
People are concerned about noise levels and water and electricity usage. Simple Mining says its crypto mining will use a closed loop water cooling system, which will allow the operation to use very little water. The company also says it can be shut down quickly when energy rates are higher.
Matt Hein, Simple Mining Director of Energy Infrastructure, said the company’s energy usage is a benefit to Cedar Falls.
“Our large consumption of electricity is an economic benefit to the city of Cedar Falls,” Hein said. “We help pay for schools, we help pay for roads.”
People worry high energy usage will push their utility bills up.
Cedar Falls Utility says the power plant was planned for years before the crypto operation became part of the picture.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Crypto
US 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 8-Month High Above 4.4%, Pulls Back on Middle East Ceasefire Reports
Bond Market Selloff Pushes 10-Year Yield
The move reflected a sharp repricing of inflation and fiscal risk. Bond prices fell as investors demanded higher returns on longer-dated government debt, pushing the 10-year yield to close at approximately 4.39% on Tuesday, according to data tracked by Ycharts and the St. Louis Fed’s FRED database.
Three overlapping pressures drove the climb. The ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict — including airstrikes and troop deployments, raised fears of oil supply disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz. Crude prices spiked, embedding higher energy costs into inflation expectations and pulling bond prices lower, particularly at the long end of the curve.
Fiscal concerns compounded the move. Increased military spending added to already elevated deficit projections, deepening term-premium pressure on Treasuries. Weak recent bond auctions further signaled reduced demand from investors, questioning long-term fiscal sustainability.
The Federal Reserve provided no offset. At its March 18 meeting, the Fed held the federal funds rate steady at 3.50%–3.75% in an 11-1 vote, citing sticky inflation, solid economic activity, and uncertainty tied to the Iran conflict. The Fed’s dot plot still projected one rate cut in 2026, but futures markets largely priced out meaningful easing this year — with some traders pushing rate-cut expectations into 2027.
That hawkish stance steepened the yield curve. Short-term rates stayed anchored while long-end yields rose on persistent inflation bets — a classic “higher for longer” repricing that forced an unwind of leveraged bond positions.
Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Investments, flagged the technical significance of the move. “While the 10-year yield broke out of a short-term range, the weekly chart still shows bonds holding within a long triangle in place since 2022,” Timmer wrote Wednesday. “If it breaks, it will be a problem not only for bonds but equities and other assets as well.” He added that yields are rising globally: “This is a global reset.”
Keith McCullough, CEO of Hedgeye Risk Management, pointed to the trend’s staying power. “10-Year Yield Holds Uptrend as Inflation Nowcast Accelerates during Quad3,” McCullough posted Wednesday. “The bond market isn’t buying the narrative. 10Y still making higher highs and lows. Range: 4.20–4.43%.”
Wednesday’s partial reversal showed how sensitive yields remain to geopolitical headlines. As ceasefire reports circulated, the 10-year traded near 4.32%–4.33%, giving back a portion of the prior day’s advance.
Timmer’s earlier note captured the line markets are watching: “Nothing good happens above 4.5% when the risk-free rate is competitive with risky assets.” That level sits roughly 17 basis points above Tuesday’s close.
Whether yields resume their climb depends on two variables: sustained inflation data and any re-escalation in the Middle East. Markets are positioned for both. For now, the 10-year yield remains a live stress indicator, not just for bonds, but for equities, credit, and rate-sensitive sectors across the U.S. economy.
FAQ 🔎
- Why did the 10-year Treasury yield rise above 4.4% in March 2026? The yield climbed due to overlapping pressures from U.S.-Iran conflict oil fears, elevated federal deficit spending, and a Federal Reserve holding rates steady with few cuts expected in 2026.
- What does a higher 10-year Treasury yield mean for the U.S. economy? Rising long-term yields increase borrowing costs for mortgages, corporate debt, and government financing, putting pressure on equities and rate-sensitive sectors.
- When did the 10-year yield last trade this high? The March 24, 2026 close near 4.39% marked the highest level in approximately eight months, dating back to around July 2025.
- Will U.S. Treasury yields continue rising in 2026? Analysts say the path depends on incoming inflation data and whether the Middle East conflict escalates further or moves toward a sustained ceasefire.
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