Just hours after the US election results were announced, I received messages from friends full of surprising assumptions. Some congratulated me and mockingly said, “Congratulations, your side won for bitcoin.” Others expressed their disapproval with comments such as “That's pathetic!” and “I'm surprised Americans voted for Hitler.” A friend said: “You were lucky to find safety in the United States as a refugee under the Biden administration. Refugees and asylum seekers will now face tougher times here, but hey, it's still good for your bitcoin.” Many of these friends work in high-level corporate positions or are college students.
As a Green Card holder, he did not have the right to vote, but I recognize his enormous disappointment in seeing his preferred candidate lose. Their frustrations were directed at me because they know I support bitcoin and work in the space. I understand that making me a scapegoat says less about me and more about your limited understanding of what the value of bitcoin represents.
I am aware that in this highly polarized political landscape, ideological stereotypes become evident, not only during the electoral season but also in spaces where innovative thinking should be encouraged. A prime example of this ideological bias occurred during the Ohio State University graduation, where Chris Pan <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1787769660252860805″>speech on bitcoin was widely booed by students attending his graduation ceremony. I admire the courage it took to stand your ground in front of over 60,000 people and continue your speech. My guess is that most of these graduate students have never experienced hyperinflation or grown up under authoritarian regimes, which likely triggered a “self-rejection” response to concepts beyond their personal experience.
I have encountered similar resistance in my own unfinished academic journey; During my time at Georgetown, I had several unproductive conversations with professors and students who viewed bitcoin as a far-right tool. A teacher once told me: “Earn, just because cryptocurrency (you didn't use the term bitcoin) helped you and your people in your home country doesn't make it a great tool – most people end up getting scammed in the US and many parts of the world . I urge you to learn more about it..” Power dynamics in academic environments often discourage open-minded discourse, which is why I ultimately refrained from talking about bitcoin with my professors.
I have come to understand that freedom of expression is a fundamental American value. However, I have observed that certain demographic groups or communities label anyone they disagree with as “racist.” In more extreme cases, this reaction can escalate to using influence to fire people, expel them from school, or subject them to coordinated cyberbullying. I am not claiming that racism does not exist in American society or anywhere else; I firmly believe that both overt and subtle forms of racism still persist and are very much alive today.
Although bias and inequality remain widespread, bitcoin operates on completely different principles. bitcoin has no borders, has no leaders and accepts any nationality or skin color, without the need for any type of identification to participate. People in war-torn countries convert your savings into bitcoin to safely cross borders, <a target="_blank" href="https://hrf.org/latest/hrf-bitcoin-development-fund-grants-1-billion-satoshis-to-20-projects-worldwide/”>Human rights defenders receive donations in bitcoinand women living under the Taliban regime receive payments through the bitcoin network.
bitcoin is not racist because it is an empowering tool for anyone willing to participate. bitcoin is not xenophobic because it gives those forced to flee their homes the power to carry their hard-earned economic energy across borders and participate in another economy when all other options are closed. Activists, often branded as “criminals” by authoritarian regimes, are supported through frozen bank accounts and blocked resources. For women, enduring life under a misogynistic government, bitcoin offers a rare opportunity for financial independence.
Returning to the US electoral context, bitcoin not only levels the playing field for people in the most forgotten places and darkest corners of the world, but also opens new avenues for US presidential candidates. Interact with this growing community. President-elect Donald Trump has made bold promises regarding bitcoin, indicating a favorable policy. In contrast, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris's campaign refused to support the bitcoin community. Grant McCarty, co-founder of the bitcoin Policy Institute, <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/grant_mccarty/status/1854301162302013923″>fixed“I can confirm that the Harris campaign was offered MILLIONS of dollars from companies, PACs, and individuals seeking her to simply meet with key crypto stakeholders and come up with a defined crypto policy plan. The campaign never took the industry seriously.“I think this is something that most people may be unaware of, and confirmation bias often leads to the assumption that all bitcoin supporters support all of the other side's policies, including possible drastic changes to the humanitarian commitments of United States, such as refugee resettlement and asylum programs, anti-trafficking and protection of vulnerable populations, and foreign aid and disaster relief.
Most people around the world lack a stable economic infrastructure or access to long-term mortgages; They live and win with more volatile currencies than cryptocurrency gambling, and in some cases, having your own fiat currency is as dangerous as casino chips, or worse.
The Fiat experiment has failed the world majority. I believe bitcoin and its proponents deserve to be evaluated on their merits and work on global impact, rather than through the binary lens of political bias, misappropriated terms, or objectively flawed but socially accepted diminutive categorizations that allow them to opt out. learn. and evaluate assumptions.
This is a guest post by Win Ko Ko Aung. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
