The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is scheduled to speak at the upcoming Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, later this month. While this would be the first time a presidential candidate would attend the conference, it has sparked a debate about whether Trump will receive support from the crypto community in the upcoming election.
Moe Vela, Senior Advisor to Unicoin and Former Senior Advisor to Joe Biden, told Quartz in an email that it’s a smart move. “I think it’s inevitable that Trump’s attendance at the Bitcoin conference will increase his support from the crypto community. It’s a strategic move from a political perspective,” Vela said.
He said that at the Bitcoin conference, which is scheduled from July 25 to July 27, Trump will not say more than political bluster and pandering. “He will simply say what his audience wants to hear. Not too long ago, he was criticizing cryptocurrency and denouncing it.”
This election year, Trump declared himself as a “crypto candidate” at a Mar-a-Lago gala. Later, he announced that he would accept donations in Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Solana, and other cryptocurrencies.
His position on cryptocurrency represents a significant U-turn. A few years ago, he denounced Bitcoin as “a scam against the U.S. dollar” and said the central bank digital currencies are “very dangerous.” In the past years, he said that crypto is “a disaster waiting to happen” and that he is “not a fan of it.” But now he says he is “good” with crypto.
After hearing Trump make several pro-crypto statements during his campaigns, President Biden’s re-election campaign is following suit by considering accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations. Not only that, but the Democrats’ tune on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has changed. Those who have traditionally opposed it are now singing a more pro-cryptocurrency tune, distancing themselves from Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s tough stance on Bitcoin.Under Biden’s leadership, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a first-of-its-kind crypto market structure bill two months ago that aims to regulate the industry at large.
The crypto community is eager to see what both leaders — and especially Trump — have to say and do about crypto. Trump has not yet declared how he plans to support cryptocurrency and blockchain growth through policies. However, he met with crypto miners last month and said that all the remaining Bitcoin should be created in the U.S.
How does the crypto community feel about Trump?
But that doesn’t mean that the crypto community is more inclined to support Trump over Biden, said Vela in the email. That’s because there is a diverse population in the crypto community, with a large number of millennials, Gen Z, and young professionals, he added.
According to Vela, it’s not too late for the Democratic Party to garner support from the crypto community, but they are clearly running out of time. “If the Democratic party and the Biden campaign put forth a balanced policy and regulatory approach, they would still be able to appeal to many in the crypto community,” he said.
During this election year, crypto companies are contributing millions of dollars to political campaigns. This is a new trend, reflecting the understanding that cryptocurrency has become a significant political topic, and its future may be influenced by the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. For instance, Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., recently donated $25 million in June to support Fairshake, a super political action committee that aims to help elect candidates favorable to digital assets by voting out anti-crypto politicians from Congress.
The Winklevoss twins, founders of the cryptocurrency company Gemini, each donated 15.47 Bitcoin or $1 million in June to support Donald Trump’s campaign. Tyler Winklevoss posted on X that the Democratic administration of President Biden has “openly declared war on crypto,” while Cameron Winklevoss wrote that Trump is “pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business.”
Jesse Powell, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has donated $1 million to Trump’s campaign. He wrote that the Biden administration has allowed a “campaign of unchecked regulation by enforcement.”
Vela agreed that, at this point, it is evident that the Trump campaign is outmaneuvering the Biden campaign regarding crypto as a political issue in this campaign. He mentioned that the Biden campaign should increase its efforts to reach out to the crypto community.
Amid the election and crypto chaos, the much bigger point is how crypto is going to influence finance and our future. “Both candidates and both parties must come to the realization that crypto is here to stay and an integral part of the future of our country and economy,” he said.
