Vice President JD Vance praised the cryptocurrency industry Wednesday and urged it to remain active in U.S. politics and policymaking, highlighting the Trump administration’s close ties to a deep-pocketed industry that’s become a powerful force in Washington.
Speaking at a bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, Vance urged the crypto executives and enthusiasts to keep pressure on Congress to pass pro-crypto legislation supported by the White House.
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Vice President JD Vance speaks at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Vice President JD Vance walks on stage to speak at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Vice President JD Vance speaks at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Vice President JD Vance speaks at Bitcoin 2025 Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unleash innovation and use it to improve the lives of countless American citizens,” Vance said in his address. “But if we fail to create regulatory clarity now, we risk chasing this $3 trillion industry offshore in search of a friendly jurisdiction.”
Vance’s speech comes after Trump promised to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” when he addressed the same bitcoin conference in Nashville last year in the middle of the presidential campaign. The crypto industry, which felt unfairly attacked by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump and pro-crypto lawmakers win election.
Vance praised how quickly the crypto industry was able to organize and influence U.S. politics during last year’s election, giving special credit to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the billionaire founders of the crypto exchange Gemini.
“You chose to speak up and you chose to get involved and I believe you changed the direct trajectory of our country because of it,” Vance told the crowd gathered at the Venetian Hotel.
Vance hailed crypto as a hedge that can help conservative populists protect themselves against bad politicians, overly aggressive regulators and unethical elites. He predicted its continued assimilation into the financial mainstream and said it was strategically important for the U.S. to be a world leader in the industry, noting that the Chinese government is hostile to crypto.
Vance also touted the Trump administration’s record at fulfilling the campaign promises made last year.
As president, Trump has established a strategic bitcoin reserve for the federal government and pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, a black market website that was key to the early growth of bitcoin. Trump has also staked his administration with outspoken crypto backers while his administration has undone or paused several enforcement actions taken against large crypto companies.
Several other Trump officials are speakers at the bitcoin conference, as are his sons Don Jr. and Eric. The president and his family’s use of crypto as a platform to make money for the Trump brand has drawn criticism from Democrats and even crypto enthusiasts as corrupt and unseemly.
The Trump family holds about a 60% stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that recently launched its own stablecoin, a fast-growing form of cryptocurrency whose values is often tied to the U.S. dollar. The U.S. Senate advanced legislation earlier this month that creates a federal framework to regulate stablecoins, a bill that Vance said the Trump administration wants passed into law quickly.
Trump’s media company announced Tuesday that it was raising $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin, the world’s oldest and most popular cryptocurrency. The president and the first lady have also launched their own meme coins, with Trump recently attending a dinner for some of his coins’ biggest investors.
Eric and Don Jr., who are running the Trump Organization while their father is president, have also recently announced they are partnering with an existing firm to create a crypto mining company. They also spoke at the conference Wednesday, where they criticized the traditional banking system and heaped praise on crypto and their supporters in the audience.
“I’m not sure if we would have won in the same decisive manner had it not been for this incredible community,” Eric Trump said.
Vice President JD Vance speaks at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Vice President JD Vance walks on stage to speak at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Vice President JD Vance speaks at Bitcoin 2025, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Vice President JD Vance speaks at Bitcoin 2025 Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.
Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.
Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.
But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.
More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.
The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
