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Election 2024: Cryptocurrencies could be a defining issue, says Republican Tom Emmer
Emmer, the third-ranking Republican in his chamber, has many reasons for his optimism. After some initial ambivalence, the GOP has become an increasingly pro-crypto party, while Democrats have remained divided on the issue. This month, Republicans and 71 House Democrats passed the first comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, with rules widely seen as friendly to the industry.
Perhaps no one symbolizes this evolution more than Donald Trump, a former cryptocurrency skeptic who has described currencies like bitcoin and ethereum as a “disaster waiting to happen.” This year, the former and perhaps future president rallied to the industry’s cause and began accepting campaign donations in digital currencies. “If you like cryptocurrencies in any form, and they come in many different forms, you would be better off voting for Trump,” he said he told the crowd in March.
Joe Biden, by contrast, opposed the House regulatory bill as too lenient and recently vetoed a congressional attempt to overturn a Securities and Exchange Commission rule on cryptocurrencies.
Emmer declined to say whether he has spoken about cryptocurrency issues with Trump, but said the candidate “recognizes that people want leadership on this issue, and he’s engaging in it in a big way.” He argues that Republicans are increasingly able to win over a “huge group” of crypto voters aged 18 to 40 who “don’t trust people in Washington, D.C. who are trying to tell them what they can and can’t I can do” with their money.
“You have to give [former GOP candidate] Vivek Ramaswamy is credited with bringing out this new young constituency who was very enthusiastic about his knowledge of the digital asset space,” he says. While there are numerous prominent Democrats in favor of cryptocurrencies, Emmer argues that lawmakers like Senator Elizabeth Warren and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler “have completely messed up the situation” for the party by seeking stricter regulations.
Crypto firms hope to send the same message. They did it Put out Poll Suggests Large Numbers of Voters Will Weigh Candidates’ Positions on Cryptocurrencies, Anthony Scaramucci and Blockchain Association President Kristin Smith Show recently discussed it could put Trump “over the top.” More importantly: he is amassing the spoils of war. So far the pro-cryptocurrency Fairshake super PAC has worked received $160 millionincluding a recent $25 million donation from cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase.
Fairshake and other super PACs have already spent heavily in the primaries, helping defeat Democratic Rep. Katie Porter’s California Senate bid. Some expect it them to attack risky Senate Democrats like Jon Tester, who described cryptocurrencies as “bullshit,” and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee known as a cryptocurrency skeptic. Tester’s Republican opponent, Tim Sheehy, has already done so attacked him on X regarding the issue, calling cryptocurrencies “the future of finance and the internet and thousands of jobs for America.”