Trump's change in attitude reflects the rise and influence of cryptocurrency in the political arena, sparking debates on regulatory policies between the Republican and Democratic parties.
Author: Stephanie Kelly, Suzanne McGe
Translation: Plain Blockchain
On July 25th, Reuters reported that Donald Trump, a Republican candidate and former U.S. president, once called cryptocurrency a "scam." Now, he is set to speak at one of the industry's largest conferences.
Trump made the above remarks in 2021, and he will deliver a speech on the last day of the 2024 Bitcoin conference in Nashville on Saturday. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, and Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis will also speak.
In the Democratic Party, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna of California will also be in attendance.
1. Current Situation
After the collapse of FTX and a series of other cryptocurrency companies in 2022, the entire industry quickly rebounded, leading to a decline in token prices and forcing many companies into bankruptcy. Supporters of digital assets say that cryptocurrency users are becoming an increasingly powerful political force in this election cycle, although it is not yet clear how many users will prioritize cryptocurrency issues when voting.
The Republican Party is vying for their votes by promising to relax regulations, which may link a currency designed to bypass the government with a major U.S. political party.
"For most of its history, cryptocurrency has actually been a non-partisan issue," said David Yermack, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, "because neither the Republican nor Democratic parties understand it or are willing to delve into it."
"I do think the Republicans have been moving faster in this area over the past year or two."
The non-profit industry organization Stand With Crypto, supported by cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase, has organized over 1.3 million supporters. Meanwhile, three major super PACs supporting cryptocurrency—Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, and Protect Progress, organizations that did not exist before this election cycle, have raised over $230 million to support friendly candidates.
2. Impact
This influence has already been evident. Fairshake, a super PAC supporting cryptocurrency candidates, spent over $10 million this year opposing progressive Democratic candidate Katie Porter, who is running for senator in California. Porter questioned the impact of Bitcoin mining on climate change but was defeated in the primary.
Some cryptocurrency supporters are backing Trump, including the billionaire twins who founded the cryptocurrency company Gemini. Each of them gave Trump $1 million in Bitcoin, but had to retract the money because it exceeded the federal legal limit.
Overall, in 2023, 7% of U.S. adults held or used cryptocurrency, a 3% decrease from 2022 and a 5% decrease from 2021, according to a report by the Federal Reserve in May.
"It's clear that this industry wants to buy as many politicians as possible to hijack the agenda of the American people and put their special interests first," said Dennis Kelleher, CEO of the Washington advocacy group Better Markets.
"Their special interest is certainly to have little or no regulation," he added.
However, the number of politicians attracted to the annual conference is greater than ever before.
"There's a joke that the speaker lineup looks like a scaled-down version of the Republican National Convention (RNC Lite)," mentioned one attendee in an interview, referring to the Republican National Convention held in mid-July in Milwaukee.
3. Trump's New Support
Trump's appearance at the 2024 Bitcoin conference is his latest show of support for the industry. At a fundraising event in San Francisco in June, he criticized the Democratic Party's regulatory attempts on the industry. Last month, he met with Bitcoin mining companies at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
"We tried to engage with the Biden administration, but they were not willing to accept," said Jayson Browder, public policy head of Marathon Digital Holdings, who attended the Mar-a-Lago meeting. "While former President Trump was very willing to accept and is now actively supporting our industry."
Trump recently stated that he wants to see more U.S. companies engage in Bitcoin mining.
Cryptocurrency executives are dissatisfied with the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) enforcement actions during President Joe Biden's tenure. The agency claims that several cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and BN, promoted digital asset trading on their platforms that should be registered as securities, which these companies deny.
The White House told Reuters that the Biden-Harris administration will continue to engage with stakeholders and work with Congress to develop necessary protective measures to leverage the potential benefits and opportunities of cryptocurrency innovation.
If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidential election in November, she may advance Biden's cryptocurrency policy.
The Trump and Harris campaign teams did not immediately comment on this article.
Traders betting on Trump's second presidential term are flocking to asset classes that could be boosted under his government. Cameron Dawson, Chief Investment Officer of NewEdge Wealth, said that cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, is "the most direct and cleanest way to play the 'Trump trade' so far."
Conference attendee Hillary Adler, who co-founded the operating system BitcoinOS, used to vote for the Democratic Party but now describes herself as a left-liberal. Adler described herself as an undecided voter and said she is not surprised that some Republican politicians are turning to support cryptocurrency. "The Republicans have always had better long-term strategies in politics," she said. "Now, they care about cryptocurrency."
Original article link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/07/5322.html
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-republicans-court-crypto-votes-dollars-bitcoin-2024-2024-07-25/
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