Finance Trump’s crypto team in Abu Dhabi for bitcoin conference By Reuters December 9, 2024, 12:45 PM Reuters/Tyrone Siu An illustration of Donald Trump holding bitcoin is displayed at a cryptocurrency store in Hong Kong after bitcoin's value reached $100,000 Bitcoin hails ‘crypto president’ Eric Trump is keynote speaker Family has own crypto platform Several key staff in President-elect Donald Trump’s new cryptocurrency venture are in Abu Dhabi today for the largest bitcoin gathering in the Gulf region, Bitcoin Mena 2024. Speakers include Trump’s son Eric and billionaire Steve Witkoff, the new White House envoy for the Middle East and co-founder of World Liberty Financial (WLF), a crypto platform launched in September that Donald Trump and his family helped form. Eric Trump will deliver Tuesday’s keynote address at the conference, which is projected to draw more than 6,000 people. Witkoff will also speak separately to a more exclusive crowd, which requires a $9,999 “whale” pass, a nickname for major players who have potential to move a market. The president-elect is WLF’s chief crypto advocate, and sons Eric, Don Jr and Barron are ambassadors, according to its website. Company filings show Donald Trump is entitled to 22.5 billion WLF tokens and a share of its revenues. “The bitcoin conference carries a lot of significance for crypto as it’s one of the longest-running conferences focused on bringing our industry together,” said Marshall Beard, chief operating officer of Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Trump backers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. “It’s been incredible to see the rise of bitcoin alongside the growth of the conference … and crypto became a major campaign issue in this year’s presidential election.” Other speakers also have close ties to WLF, including Justin Sun, the 32-year-old Chinese founder of blockchain platform Tron. Three weeks after Trump won the US election, Sun posted on X that he bought $30 million worth of WLF tokens, making him the venture’s largest investor. Sun was charged with crypto-related fraud and securities violations under the Biden administration. The Gulf gathering is occurring at an inflection point for the industry as Trump, once a crypto sceptic, has vowed he will be the “crypto president” and make America the new “crypto capital of the planet”. Buoyed by these promises, bitcoin broke records last week when it hit $100,000. Ras Al Khaimah’s tourist draw: concerts, casinos and crypto Crypto giant OKX bullish on UAE launch Bahraini bank launches Gulf’s first bitcoin investment fund Trump also named a White House czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, former PayPal executive David Sacks, a close friend of Trump adviser and donor Elon Musk. Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump, records show. Other technology and digital asset veterans also gave millions to candidates friendly to the industry, according to analytics firm Breadcrumbs. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served a four-month US prison sentence this year for crypto-tied money-laundering law violations, will also hold a “whale” session at the conference. Trump, his family members, other speakers and their companies did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment.
