At Bitcoin 2025, Crypto Purists and the MAGA Faithful Collide

“The Secret Service is a little bit nervous because I told them, ‘These bitcoin guys really like guns,’” US vice president JD Vance tells the audience at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 28. “‘But they really like the president and vice president of the United States, too.’” The cheers that ignite the room leave no reason to doubt Vance’s statement. Why wouldn’t they like him? He’s the first US vice president to own bitcoin (worth between $250,000 and $500,000 per an August 2024 disclosure). And though the excitement was more palpable when president Donald Trump spoke at last year’s conference in Nashville, Tennessee, the crowd believes that of the two, Vance has the crypto chops. As Trump supporter Kelly Chandler puts it: “We're blessed to have an administration that's embracing bitcoin, and JD actually understands it.” Many of the 35,000 conference goers identify as conservatives fed up with “woke nonsense.” But not everyone’s his fan. “About a week ago, if you’d as ... Read full article.