The Death of Charlie Kirk: America Lost the "Young Salesman" of the Crypto World

Author: David, TechFlow

Original author: Charlie Kirk assassinated, America lost the person best at selling Bitcoin to young people

On September 10, a bullet ended the life of one of America's most influential Bitcoin evangelists.

31-year-old Charlie Kirk may not be the most well-known name in the crypto community; he was not a developer, not a founder of an exchange, nor a crypto fund manager.

But he may have been the most effective person at spreading the idea of Bitcoin to young Americans.

As the founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, which has influence in thousands of campuses, Kirk brought the idea of "Bitcoin as a currency of freedom" to millions of college students who had never been exposed to cryptocurrency.

"Every student should at least understand how Bitcoin works," Kirk said in a 2024 campus speech. "If you don't understand, be prepared to be ruled by those who do."

On the very afternoon he fell, at Utah Valley University, he was answering a student's question about America's mass shooting problem. Ironically, minutes later, he himself became the latest victim of this issue.

After the incident, many lamented that Kirk was one of the few mainstream voices who truly understood Bitcoin. This is a huge loss for crypto evangelism.

Bitcoin Evangelist

Why was Charlie Kirk able to get millions of young people to pay attention to Bitcoin?

In 2012, at just 18 years old, Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA with Bill Montgomery, an organization focused on promoting conservative ideas on campus. After more than a decade of development, according to the organization's official website, TPUSA has established branches in over 3,000 high school and college campuses across the United States, with more than 650,000 lifetime student members.

Kirk's signature event is the "Prove Me Wrong" campus debate, inviting dissenting students to challenge his views face-to-face.

Originally, these debates focused on traditional political topics—freedom of speech, gun rights, immigration policy. But by the 2024 election cycle, a new theme frequently appeared in Kirk's discourse: Bitcoin.

Kirk's brilliance lay in not promoting Bitcoin as an investment or technology, but integrating it into his existing political narrative framework.

"Cryptocurrency and Christians are the two threats to the New World Order," Kirk said on his radio show. In his context, "New World Order" represents the globalist control he opposes, and being a "threat" means defending freedom.

"You can have a currency not controlled by the federal government, which is direct competition to the U.S. Treasury, and it should be." For his audience, this way of framing immediately makes it clear that this isn't a discussion about blockchain technology, but about the struggle between personal freedom and government control.

In campus debates, when students asked about inflation and the cost of living, Kirk would naturally introduce Bitcoin:

"Your generation is facing the worst currency devaluation in history. Bitcoin's 21 million cap means no one can arbitrarily print money to dilute your wealth."

He used economic pressures that students personally feel, such as student loans, housing prices, and inflation, as entry points, making Bitcoin part of the solution.

During the 2024 election cycle, Kirk pushed this narrative to its peak.

According to TheStreet, "Kirk vigorously promoted pro-crypto policies at student events, often describing digital assets as an intergenerational hedge against inflation and regulation."

This ability to turn technical issues into a battle for freedom got even liberal arts students with no interest in programming to start paying attention to Bitcoin.

Three Key Crypto Views

"Bitcoin is more honest than the dollar."

One of the most impactful views in Kirk's crypto discourse also comes from a segment on his radio show: "In some ways, Bitcoin is more honest than the dollar."

According to Media Matters, he specifically explained: "From being able to know how much Bitcoin exists, to the ledger, to blockchain technology."

This view cleverly avoids technical details and directly appeals to moral judgment. Kirk contrasted Bitcoin's fixed supply of 21 million with the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing policy, helping young people understand that this is not just a technical difference, but a matter of integrity.

"If you don't understand, be prepared to be ruled by those who do."

During the 2024 election cycle, Kirk positioned cryptocurrency as an economic weapon for the younger generation. He often described digital assets as an intergenerational hedge against inflation and regulation.

In his narrative framework, the traditional financial system is depicted as a game rigged against young people, while Bitcoin represents a brand new opportunity.

Thus, there was the highly viral phrase at the beginning of this article: if you don't understand, be prepared to be ruled by those who do; elevating crypto to the level of an intergenerational battle for wealth preservation.

Kirk also linked this topic to broader political struggles. On his radio show, he said: "We have $35 trillion in debt. Whether you like it or not, cryptocurrency is happening, and Donald Trump is on the right side of crypto."

He pointed out that politicians who oppose crypto are "controlled by big banks," portraying this as a grassroots struggle against vested interests.

"Bitcoin can save the national debt."

Kirk's most radical and controversial view appeared in July 2025. According to a video interview posted by The Bitcoin Conference on X, Charlie Kirk said that Bitcoin could pay off the national debt and make up for deficit losses.

Although this view is highly controversial in economics, it successfully elevated Bitcoin from a personal investment tool to a national strategic asset.

This echoed the Trump administration's proposal at the time to establish a "national Bitcoin strategic reserve." Kirk also reported on this policy proposal on his website, stating that Bitcoin's price soared after Trump announced the establishment of the strategic reserve.

The three core views above form the foundation of Kirk's crypto evangelism:

More honest than the dollar, giving Bitcoin moral superiority; advocating intergenerational justice, turning crypto into a weapon for young people; saving the debt, resonating with the president's spirit.

From Campus to the White House

Kirk's close relationship with the Trump family is no secret. According to The New York Times, Kirk is close to Donald Trump Jr., giving him direct channels to influence policy.

And on the issue of cryptocurrency, this influence has produced substantive results.

On July 27, 2024, Trump delivered a historic speech at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville. Kirk reposted this moment on his X account: "President Trump said at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference that America will become the crypto capital of the planet and the world's Bitcoin superpower."

This was not just a repost; Kirk's organization Turning Point Action made crypto policy one of the key issues for mobilizing young voters throughout the 2024 election cycle.

More importantly, Kirk helped mainstream the concept of a "national Bitcoin strategic reserve."

In March 2025, when Trump officially announced this plan, Kirk wrote on his website: "After years of corrupt attacks by the Biden administration, America's crypto reserves will elevate this critical industry."

Before the 2024 election, Kirk conducted a campus tour called "You're Being Brainwashed." Public data shows that this tour visited about 25 college campuses and generated about 2 billion viral impressions on social media. Forbes reported that this tour was praised as having played a "key role" in helping Trump get elected.

It is worth noting that Kirk even indirectly participated in personnel decisions for the Trump administration. According to Forbes, Kirk assisted the president-elect in selecting government leadership positions, including cabinet posts. Although there is no direct evidence that he influenced crypto-related appointments, his overall influence cannot be ignored.

By incorporating Bitcoin into a broader conservative agenda, Kirk not only expanded the audience for cryptocurrency but also changed the political discourse surrounding it. This is a double-edged sword: while it brought mainstream attention and political support, it also dragged cryptocurrency into America's increasingly polarized political environment.

Crypto Education: The Road Ahead Is Long

Kirk's death leaves a void that is hard to fill.

The position he occupied was extremely unique—not a technical expert, nor a financial tycoon, but a political activist with a vast youth network who happened to genuinely believe in Bitcoin.

In 2016, he was the youngest speaker at the Republican National Convention, and in 2020 he was also an opening speaker; Wikipedia shows his podcast often ranks in the top ten on the Apple News charts.

This combination of mainstream political status, genuine faith in Bitcoin, and broad influence is almost unmatched in the American political spectrum.

Looking back at Kirk's success, it at least proves one thing: to get the mainstream to accept Bitcoin, what is needed is not more technical white papers, but better storytellers.

Being shot while discussing the impact of shootings, Kirk may also have been reminding everyone of a fact: in today's highly polarized American environment, being a public advocate comes with real risks. When technical issues are swept into fierce ideological battles, advocates may become targets.

Kirk is gone, but the question he raised remains: how can Bitcoin truly become mainstream?

This is a question Kirk can no longer answer. But the question he raised with his life is worth deep reflection from everyone who cares about the future of cryptocurrency.