US VP Vance to speak at Bitcoin conference amid Trump crypto controversies

US Vice President JD Vance will speak at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, roughly a year after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke at the same event.

According to a May 9 notice from the event’s organizers, Vance will address conference attendees in person on May 28, making him the first sitting US vice president to speak at a digital asset conference.

Trump provided a pre-recorded video of himself from the White House to the organizers of the Digital Asset Summit in March — his first appearance at a crypto event since taking office in January — and spoke in person at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville while campaigning.

Though Vance is a Bitcoin (BTC) holder — he holds $250,000 to $500,001 worth of the cryptocurrency, according to a financial disclosure filed in August 2024 — it’s unclear whether the vice president intends to make a substantive policy statement at the event. Cointelegraph reached out to Vance’s office for comment but had not received a response at time of publication.

Related: Resurfaced clip shows Trump’s VP pick slamming Gensler’s approach to crypto

Since taking office alongside Trump in January, Vance has largely stayed out of the media spotlight in terms of crypto-related policy. The president has signed executive orders on establishing a crypto reserve and regulating stablecoins, while Vance’s involvement with overseeing the industry seemed to be limited to speaking on AI regulation.

Two of the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are tied to the crypto platform World Liberty Financial, were also scheduled to speak at the May event. Many lawmakers have expressed concerns that the platform, backed by the Trump family, is being used to personally enrich the president.

The vice president’s appearance at the crypto conference was announced the same week Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate strongly criticized Trump’s connections to the crypto industry. 

In the House, Representative Maxine Waters halted a joint hearing discussing a crypto market structure bill and led a group of lawmakers to explore “Trump’s crypto corruption.” In the Senate, nine Democrats blocked a crucial vote on a stablecoin bill, saying the legislation lacked certain safeguards, hinting at the Trump family enriching itself through the USD1 stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions