In politics, there are no permanent friends or foes. Echoing similar sentiments, 45th U.S. President Donald Trump will share the stage with former intelligence contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden as key speakers at the Bitcoin 2024 Nashville event.
Incidentally, this is the first time Trump is going to share the stage with Snowden, whom he had once snubbed as a “traitor” and a “spy who should be executed” back in 2013. Since then, Trump has come a long way and now ahead of the upcoming US presidential elections, he is eyeing support of an estimated 50 million voters who are crypto holders in the U.S.
The three day Bitcoin 2024 Nashville event will be held at Music City Centre in Nashville, TN from July 25 to July 27 where crypto enthusiasts and key industry leaders from all across the world are expected to attend.
Bitcoin Inc, the organizers of the event, have confirmed both Trump and Snowden as key speakers, however, in all probability, the talk by Snowden will be broadcasted virtually as he continues facing civil suits in the U.S.
Other key speakers include comedian Russell Brand, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Junior and tech and finance moguls like Cathie Wood, Michael Saylor, Bill Maher IV among others.
Snowden’s Journey
Snowden, who once worked as an intelligence contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA), had fled the U.S. back in 2013 to reach Hong Kong and then Russia to reveal an illegal mass surveillance programme being carried out by the U.S. government on its citizens. Snowden had faced espionage and treason charges because of his whistleblowing activities and remained in exile for the next 10 years. In 2022, Snowden received citizenship of Russia through naturalization.
Over the past 10 years, Snowden has emerged as a staunch supporter of data privacy and advocates against use of technology for illegal surveillance and snooping. Snowden also gradually developed interest in cryptocurrencies and recently revealed that he is one of the creators of privacy coin Zcash. He has also advocated for privacy in Bitcoin protocols as well, in the interest of the stakeholders. Snowden was a key speaker at the Bitcoin Amsterdam event in 2023 where he addressed the audience virtually.
Although the organizers of the upcoming Bitcoin 2024 Nashville event have not explicitly stated that Snowden will not travel to US, there remains little doubt that he will indeed attend the conference virtually.
Trump’s flip-flops on Snowden
Back in 2013 when Edward Snowden had revealed sensitive documents exposing mass surveillance programs carried out by the U.S. and U.K. governments, Trump had taken to Twitter to snub him as a “traitor” and a “spy who should be executed.”
Back then, Trump was gearing up for the 2017 U.S. presidential polls against Hillary Clinton which he had won to emerge as the 45th president of the United States. By 2020, President Trump had softened his stance against Snowden and claimed that he might pass an order “pardoning” him. However, he failed to pardon Snowden even as he was ousted by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020 US prez polls.
Now cut to 2024, Trump is again gearing up for the upcoming presidential elections as the chief candidate for the Republican party. He has been pretty vocal about his support to crypto ecosystem and has vouched for lesser regulations in the industry.
In that regard, Trump will be attending the Bitcoin 2024 Nashville event, looking to score brownie points with the audience.
