Vance and Trump's two-way run.

Author: Huo Huo

On July 13th, Trump raised his fist and shouted "Fight" in response to a shooting incident, becoming a "chosen one" that ignited the world. Subsequently, Trump announced at the Republican National Convention that he nominated cryptocurrency innovation supporter James David Vance as his vice presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election, causing a sensation. This is very attractive to cryptocurrency holders and voters, a group that accounts for a significant proportion. According to a new poll released by Grayscale at the end of May, approximately 47% of American voters are expected to include cryptocurrency in their investment portfolios.

So, what are Vance's connections to cryptocurrency? And what led Trump to choose the 40-year-old Vance?

Vance - Crypto-Friendly Player

According to relevant news from The Washington Post, a study published by the Pew Research Center in April concluded that 17% of American adults have purchased cryptocurrency, with the majority (approximately 40 million people) still holding cryptocurrency. This is a huge demographic that will greatly influence the voting results in 2024. This is also the reason why Trump and Biden have successively introduced cryptocurrency-friendly policies this year.

Cryptocurrency investors believe that compared to the Biden administration's cautious scrutiny and various regulatory suggestions for the cryptocurrency industry, if Vance is successfully elected as vice president, it would be of significant importance in promoting cryptocurrency. Therefore, Trump's campaign team is betting on Vance, hoping to win the support of at least several million cryptocurrency voters.

So, what are Vance's connections to cryptocurrency?

1) Cryptocurrency Stance

Vance has always been supportive of the cryptocurrency industry and critical of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) regulatory policies on cryptocurrency.

In March 2024, at the RemedyFest conference hosted by the startup incubator Y Combinator, Vance, a Republican senator, stated, "For me, the fundamental question is how do we build a competitive market that is conducive to innovation and competition, allowing consumers to make the right choices, rather than being obsessed with pricing power in the market and ignoring other truly important things."

At the same time, Vance believes that large tech companies need to be restrained, and is concerned about excessive regulation of blockchain technology. He believes that using blockchain technology to achieve functions such as identity verification can effectively challenge social media giants like Meta. He also recalled the birth of U.S. antitrust laws at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and stated that many of the arguments put forward by advocates at that time are also applicable to modern times. "If we cannot achieve identity verification, then it is difficult for us to challenge the giants in this field," he said at RemedyFest.

A few days before attending RemedyFest, Vance also posted an article on X stating, "The time has come to break up Google," claiming that Google News has increasingly cited left-leaning news sources, and believes that "Google and Facebook have indeed interfered with our political process."

Translation: Although late, the time to break up Google has come. This is more important than any other election integrity issue. The monopoly control of information in our society is in the hands of a technology company with obvious political leanings.

At RemedyFest, Vance opposed SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's attitude towards cryptocurrency, stating that the current regulation is completely opposite to what it should be:

"When the SEC regulates cryptocurrency, it seems to ask this question: 'Is this a practical token? If it is a practical token, then they want to ban it. If it is a token without practicality, they seem not to care." Vance believes that practical tokens can be regulated but should not be banned.

When Canada froze the bank accounts of those protesting Covid-19 restrictions in 2022, Vance wrote on Twitter, "This is why cryptocurrency is on the rise. If your political stance is not right, the government will cut off your access to banking services."

In a 2022 televised debate, Vance believed that "the 2020 election was stolen from Trump," which led to Trump being subsequently banned from using social media platforms such as X and Facebook.

Vance also openly advocates for a more lenient regulatory approach to cryptocurrency, a stance that currently aligns with Trump's position.

2) Cryptocurrency Assets

There is no doubt that Vance's past statements supporting cryptocurrency have helped Trump gain more credibility in the cryptocurrency field.

In Silicon Valley's venture capital circle, there is a saying: "To truly understand a person, the best way is to carefully analyze their investment portfolio." In 2021, Vance's estimated net worth was $5 million, including assets and income. Then in 2022, according to his latest financial disclosure, he holds $100,000 to $250,000 worth of Bitcoin on Coinbase and has invested about $15,000 in DEX Ethex. It can be said that Vance is the first U.S. presidential candidate to own Bitcoin.

In addition, as Trump already has a successful NFT digital art series, venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar stated in a post, "President Trump and Vice President Vance will form the first cryptocurrency government."

So, besides this, what other factors have won Trump's favor?

Vance and Trump's Two-Way Run

Vance, born on August 2, 1984, in Ohio, grew up in a poor family, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and was initially a writer and venture capitalist. In 2022, he was elected as a Republican federal senator.

Vance initially gained prominence for two reasons:

One was that he wrote a best-selling book. Also in 2016, he published the memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," which began to gain popularity. The book tells of his experiences growing up in a poor family: his parents' divorce, his mother's long-term companionship with painkillers and drugs, and several remarriages. He was raised by his grandparents.

This book not only exposes the plight of poor white Americans in rural America but also provides a sociological perspective on the American white working class. The book became a bestseller after its publication and stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for several weeks, receiving widespread praise and reader attention. In 2020, the book was adapted into a movie of the same name and aired on Netflix, further expanding his influence.

Two, he ran for senator. His early career experience was mainly in Silicon Valley, where he worked as a venture capitalist for early-stage tech companies. At the time, he worked for venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who played a key role in helping Trump get elected in 2016. Later, he helped Vance successfully win the Senate in 2022. (Peter Thiel, a billionaire, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist, co-founder of PayPal, the first external investor in Facebook, ranked 212th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of July 2024. During Vance's 2022 Senate campaign, Thiel sponsored over $10 million.)

Coincidentally, it was also in 2016 when Trump, who had never held political office, began running for president. However, during Trump's 2016 campaign, Vance vehemently opposed Trump, calling him a "cultural heroin," "America's Hitler," an agitator, and someone who "led the white working class to a very dark place." He also stated that he "will never support Trump."

He also published a column in The New York Times, stating that the former president "is not fit to hold our nation's highest office." In a now-deleted post on X, he said Trump "should be condemned" because "his policies on immigration and Muslims, among other things, make people I care about feel scared…

However, over time, as he sought to enter the political arena, he gradually adjusted his stance. He began to realize that the audience for his book, those who felt neglected and abandoned, were actually Trump's core supporters.

Because Trump's political rise was largely based on his criticism of globalization, immigration policies, and political elites, these views were widely popular in the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. Vance's hometown of Ohio is a key swing state in the southwest, and Vance realized that supporting Trump could help him gain greater influence and support in politics. The state has a large number of working-class voters, especially the white working class in the Midwest and rural areas. His personal background and experiences allowed him to resonate with these voters, especially as many of the issues he described in "Hillbilly Elegy," such as globalization, outsourcing of manufacturing, and economic insecurity, are the challenges faced by these voters.

Aspiring to be a politician, as someone born in Ohio, Vance realized that he had to win the support of the state's voters in order to make a name for himself in politics.

On October 19, 2022, at the Republican headquarters in Butler County, Middletown, Ohio, U.S. Senate Republican candidate Vance (J.D. Vance) addressed supporters from his hometown. Source: Gaelen Morse

In 2017, Vance began publicly expressing some agreement with Trump's policies, especially in the economic and immigration policy areas. He stated that Trump took practical measures to address the concerns of working-class voters.

In 2021, Vance announced his candidacy for the Ohio Senate and explicitly stated that he was a supporter of Trump, even actively seeking Trump's endorsement during his campaign. To cater to the preferences and needs of Trump supporters, his campaign advertisements and materials often mentioned Trump and positioned himself as the inheritor and defender of Trump's policies. He said that supporting Trump was to better represent those who feel neglected by Washington, retracting his 2016 statements.

In 2022, with Trump's support, he won a competitive Republican Senate primary, and Vance also thanked Trump for his support, stating that he would continue to advance Trump's policies and become a solid and reliable voice in Congress supporting Trump.

By establishing connections with Trump supporters, it can be said that this was one of the important reasons why he was able to run for the Ohio federal Senate seat in 2022. Not only could he win more support from Ohio voters, but he could also use this support to gain greater influence on the national political stage. This strategic alliance is of great significance to his political career in Ohio, and it also demonstrates his keen insight into and ability to respond to the needs of voters.

At the same time, after taking office in January 2023, Vance actively defended the former president against criminal and civil charges, and regularly spoke with Trump, maintaining a close relationship with his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

In June, Vance also organized a fundraising event for Trump in San Francisco, hosted by technology investor David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya of the All-In podcast.

Additionally, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan are mentioned as "swing states" by the Associated Press. In response to their interview, Trump stated that Vance could help him win swing states like Michigan in the Midwest and could attract audiences in the vice presidential candidate debate.

Looking back at Vance's attitude towards Trump, this kind of reversal seems familiar. Just as Trump, who initially criticized Bitcoin, eventually changed his stance and even issued exclusive NFTs, Vance did the same with Trump.

Conclusion

On August 2nd this year, Vance will turn 40, making him one of the youngest vice presidential candidates in history and the first millennial to run for a major party. As someone who grew up in poverty and turmoil, Vance's life has undergone significant changes:

From a poor boy to a lawyer, he married Usha Chilukuri Vance, a Yale Law School acquaintance, in 2014 and has three lovely children, making him a winner in life. Usha, of Indian descent, is also a lawyer, and her support for minority voters was helpful to Trump's campaign team.

He then transitioned from a lawyer to a venture capitalist and best-selling author, expanded his influence, entered the political arena, and then transformed from a high-profile Trump critic to one of Trump's staunchest defenders, and now he is set to become his future deputy.

It can be said that Vance's personal experience is a model of the American Dream, inspiring many people with similar backgrounds.

In a TED talk, Vance said: Achieving the American Dream is not easy, and he, who grew up in poverty, can better understand the cruelty of the current survival game. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency is undoubtedly the best challenge to the current monopoly giants. Regardless of Vance's impact on Trump's second term, it is undeniable that he may have more or less influence on the cryptocurrency industry in the future.

It is worth mentioning that, like Trump, Vance also holds a strong stance against China and has voiced criticism on a range of issues related to China.

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