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Cryptocurrency “madmen” and the 2024 elections
US voters will choose their next president in less than six months, and as incredible as it may seem, cryptocurrencies could influence the outcome. Recall that, four years ago, the cryptocurrency industry would be lucky if a major candidate mentioned Bitcoin in passing. Now, candidates are rushing to relax, no doubt lured by the industry’s $100 million-plus campaign haul, including former president and former Bitcoin hater Donald Trump, who praised cryptocurrencies while speaking to a group of groupie buyers of NFTs in March -a-Lago last week.
Blockchain’s rise into the big league of cryptocurrencies has also sparked some minor drama among the public known as Crypto Twitter. It all started when a pair of respected BlockWorks publishers published a editorial which had the provocative title “Only a Madman Would Only Vote on Cryptocurrencies,” but was otherwise a perfectly reasonable interpretation. The article points out that a number of pro-crypto candidates appear driven entirely by opportunism, not conviction, and that there are much bigger things at stake in November than the passage of a stablecoin law or anything else. This quote sums it up: “Voting for a candidate you wouldn’t otherwise support, simply because he supports deregulation of an industry in which you have a profit motive, is a compromise you shouldn’t make.”
This isn’t a controversial approach, but because it’s about cryptocurrencies, the editorial sparked the usual social media outcry as people lined up to slam the authors and declare they would never read BlockWorks again. Oh, boy. I have written myself about how cryptocurrencies need to stop embracing every madman and demagogue who blows a kiss to Bitcoin. And while Gary Gensler’s antics at the SEC are a legitimate frustration for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, the editorial is right that they pale in importance compared to, say, the Supreme Court’s decision to strip the reproductive freedom of tens of millions of women, or the uncontrolled wave of migrants rushing towards the southern border.
In some cases, people will vote for president based entirely on cryptocurrencies, and that’s their business. Among them will be some crypto entrepreneurs looking for the best outcome for their company, as well as some poorly socialized young people for whom crypto is really the most important issue in the elections. But these people represent a small percentage of the overall electorate (even though they could make a difference in a close race). Everyone else will vote on the truly important issues of the day.
To conclude, the silly drama over the BlockWorks editorial provided an interesting exchange between two of the smartest people in the industry about whether cryptocurrencies are an inherently partisan issue. VC Nic Carter has argued that cryptocurrencies are and should be aligned with the right to check the left’s impulse to politicize finance. Crypto OG and staunch libertarian Erik Voorhees countered that both the left and the right want to control your money and that cryptocurrencies are inherently opposed to both. (You can read the exchange Here). Good day.
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Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com