In recognition of Presidents Day, Cointelegraph is taking a look at the remarks of current and former leaders of the United States regarding crypto and blockchain. One of the earliest presidential adopters, Bill Clinton reportedly received his first Bitcoin (BTC) in 2016 — more than 15 years after his two terms in office. Though the Democratic U.S. president accepted the crypto asset gift from venture capitalist Matthew Roszak, seemingly with a smile on his face, he has been largely silent on the ecosystem. However, Clinton gave a keynote speech at Ripple’s Swell conference in 2018, calling blockchain a technology for …

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said that the “permutations and possibilities of blockchain technology are staggeringly great,” at Ripple’s annual Swell conference in San Francisco on October 1. Following a keynote address at the event, Clinton spoke with Gene Sperling, who was his economic advisor from 1996-2001, where they covered a range of topics from foreign policy and cultural issues to blockchain and cryptocurrency investing and banking. Clinton said: "This whole blockchain deal has the potential it does only because it is applicable across national borders [and] income groups. The permutations and possibilities are staggeringly great.” While Clinton acknowledged the …

Ripple’s global payments tech conference, Swell, will start off this fall with a keynote speech from 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton, according to Ripple’s July 31 blog post. Former President Clinton’s keynote and Q&A in San Francisco on Oct. 1 will be moderated by Gene Sperling, the National Economic Council Director and Advisory under both Presidents Clinton and Obama. The blog post notes that former President Clinton helped to “usher in a period of extreme growth and adoption of the Internet, shaping what it is today,” as well as bringing new technologies to underprivileged communities globally. Ripple …