- Donald Trump praised a 2018 US Senate hearing speech describing Bitcoin‘s main value as trustless payment.
- Peter Van Valkenburgh of Coin Center explained Bitcoin allows sending money online without a middleman.
- Trump shared the speech, calling it the best explanation of Bitcoin, and endorsed its message on social media.
- The former president committed to making the US a global Bitcoin leader, creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
- Officials are currently auditing government Bitcoin holdings and seeking ways to expand reserves without increasing costs.
On October 11, 2018, Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director of Coin Center, delivered a six-minute presentation on Bitcoin before the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Nearly seven years later, former President Donald Trump called this speech the “greatest Bitcoin explanation of all time” and promoted the video on Truth Social.
During the hearing, Van Valkenburgh described Bitcoin as the first public blockchain and digital currency, highlighting its main feature: the ability to send money over the internet without trusting a middleman like a bank or company. He stated, “Vulnerabilities are inescapable in systems that have single points of failure.” Van Valkenburgh stressed that Bitcoin’s core value comes from its trustless, peer-to-peer payment network.
For the majority of his speech, Van Valkenburgh focused on how Bitcoin operates without executives, banks, or intermediaries, making it unique compared to traditional financial systems. He urged the US government to recognize Bitcoin as the world’s first globally accessible public money, emphasizing the importance of avoiding single points of failure in the payment network.
Trump backed Van Valkenburgh’s message and has since promised to position the US as an “undisputed Bitcoin superpower.” He has taken steps including signing executive orders that create a sovereign Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), which he described as a “digital Fort Knox.” According to reports, the SBR consists largely of temporarily seized digital assets, which could be returned to their owners through court decisions.
Trump also instructed the secretaries of treasury and commerce to audit government holdings of Bitcoin and propose “budget-neutral” methods for acquiring more Bitcoin. So far, there have been no public updates on these efforts from the secretaries involved.
Van Valkenburgh continues to serve as executive director of Coin Center. The speech and its ideas remain influential in discussions on US crypto policy.
For more background or to view the original hearing, visit here. Trump’s original social media post can be found here, and Van Valkenburgh’s response is here. Further coverage is available on Fox Business and Reuters.
✅ Follow BITNEWSBOT on Telegram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X.com, and Google News for instant updates.
Previous Articles:
- Thailand SEC Proposes Streamlined Crypto Knowledge Test Rules
- Hackers Exploit FIDO Cross-Device Sign-In to Bypass MFA Security
- China Invites 30 Nations to SCO 2025 for De-Dollarization Talks
- Trump Signs GENIUS Act, Ripple’s RLUSD Eyes USDC and PayPal USD
- Over 3,500 Websites Hit by Stealth JavaScript Crypto Miners
