Presidential Candidates Are Finally Embracing Bitcoin

DeSantis, Trump, even a top Democrat challenger cozy up to crypto

Shortly after leaving office, President Trump famously called Bitcoin a “scam.” Just months later, he’d go on to launch his own NFT project.

It’s a prime example of the evolving political landscape when it comes to crypto — and Trump is far from the only candidate rethinking stances.

It’s kind of wild to imagine, but during the last presidential cycles debates, Bitcoin wasn’t even mentioned. Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis budgeted time to defend bitcoin and attack President Biden’s exploration of a US digital currency. Sign of the times.

So this week, we decided to explore how we got here. How could it be that Bitcoin’s largest conference saw its attendance drop by nearly half versus last year, but still come to attract four potential presidential candidates.

WATCH ‘THE BITCOIN ELECTION’ FROM COINAGE ⬇️ 

I should note that years ago, Bitcoin was mostly (only?) a Libertarian talking point. But this year, both a leading Democrat challenger — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and a rising Republican challenger — Vivek Ramaswamy — gave nearly identical speeches that focused on the importance of having “free money” as well as “free speech.” They both equally bashed the idea of a the government creating a so-called “central bank digital currency” or CBDC.

The fear is that a government digital currency would give the state the ability to more easily police and surveil its citizens. Worse, it might allow a party in power to turn off the ability for any of its opponents to spend money at all. People who subscribe to this fear usually point to the example of the Ottawa truckers during COVID lockdowns.

After Canadian right-wing anti-vax protesters began blockading border crossings and occupying Ottawa, a court in Ontario blocked the so-called Freedom Convoy from receiving funds from a crowdfunding website.

Many hoped that crypto would come to the rescue, but after more than $1 million dollars in Bitcoin was raised, authorities sanctioned the related wallets and blocked any payments from hitting bank accounts for the funds to be spent.

As RFK Jr. said during the Bitcoin conference, “a government that has the power to starve its citizens when they're disobedient will inevitably turn our entire country into serfs.”

Back here in the US, President Biden has spoken directly about crypto only rarely, preferring to let his appointees like SEC Chair Gary Gensler handle the day-to-day work of policing the crypto industry. However, Biden’s administration has made progress on exploring the feasibility of a CBDC in the United States.

The U.S. is far from the first country to explore its own stablecoin; according to the Atlantic Council, over 100 countries across the globe have explored, piloted, or launched their own CBDC.

Interestingly, one in Nigeria’s has mostly flopped despite the fact that its one of the countries with the highest rates of crypto adoption. But because the government essentially still has control over it — nobody wants to use it. (Almost reminds you why a currency that can’t be manipulated by a government might have value. Hi, Bitcoin! 👋)

So what would Commander Biden’s Digital Cash look like? The Fed wants Americans to know the CBDC would exist alongside cash, not replace it, and that maintaining user privacy is paramount to any CBDC candidate. According to his rivals in the 2024 race, however, Biden’s CBDC may just bring about the end of privacy and freedom as we know it.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, considered one of President Trump’s top rivals for the GOP nomination, signed legislation earlier this month that he claims would ban CBDCs in the state of Florida, though legal experts are divided on whether or not the law would have any effect.

Might that just be politics? Invent a scary problem, only to create a fake solution to win votes? Maybe! Or, maybe, as Canada showed, those fears aren’t so far fetched if you extrapolate out just a few years.

Either way, it seems the importance of how candidates are thinking about Bitcoin is finally off just being a fringe talking point for Libertarians. As one hilarious clip has shown with that camp, when it comes to government interference, there is no room for compromise!

Thanks for reading! If you liked this newsletter, please share with a friend! And let us know in the comments who you think might be the best President to defend Bitcoin: