When Americans go to the polls this fall, their decision on who will lead our country will also determine the fate of cryptocurrencies here in the United States — and our security, prosperity, and freedom are at stake.
This week, I will be joining President Trump and thousands of cryptocurrency market participants in Nashville for bitcoin 2024, the world’s largest bitcoin conference. This year, the conference is taking place in my home state at a time that is clearly the tipping point for the future of crypto technology in the U.S. This fall, the future of crypto in America is on the ballot as our nation decides who will lead our nation’s executive and legislative branches. The contrast between the Democratic and Republican approaches to crypto is stark. The Biden Administration has repeatedly demonstrated its hostility toward crypto by refusing to provide a basic regulatory framework for the industry, while simultaneously taking enforcement action against companies for allegedly violating non-existent rules. This combination of legal uncertainty and strict enforcement has driven many cryptocurrency innovators to the brink, leaving them with no choice but to move their businesses overseas.
Meanwhile, Democrats have also taken extreme measures to stifle cryptocurrency adoption in the traditional financial system. Biden regulators have forced crypto-using banks like Signature Bank to file for bankruptcy, while imposing crypto-unfriendly policies like the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, which makes it prohibitively expensive for financial institutions to hold clients’ crypto assets. Taken together, the Biden Administration’s record makes clear what another four years of Democratic political control would bring: more political persecution of the industry on a scale reminiscent of Obama’s Operation Chokepoint.
Instead, Republicans have taken concrete steps to develop constructive crypto policies that exemplify the party’s longstanding commitment to the principles of innovation, free enterprise, and individual liberty. House Republicans have passed promising bills that would bring legislative clarity to the structure of the cryptocurrency market and to private, U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins. Republicans in both chambers have worked together to attempt to overturn Biden’s most egregious policies, address concerns about illicit finance, promote private sector innovation in stablecoins, and prevent the development of a central bank digital currency. Republican control of Congress and the White House would allow the GOP to expand and implement these efforts, finally delivering constructive rules of the game for crypto and ending Biden’s oppressive regulation-by-enforcement regime.
If Republicans don’t stop Democrats from trying to crush cryptocurrencies in the United States, the consequences could be dire. Four more years of hostility will force even more crypto innovators to move abroad. Major U.S. exchanges have already begun opening businesses in other countries, seeking licenses in foreign jurisdictions, and closing their U.S. operations. In recent years, lawmakers in Washington have realized that allowing another critical industry—semiconductors—to move overseas has weakened our nation’s competitive advantage and geopolitical influence. It would be foolish to allow cryptocurrencies—this generation’s new cutting-edge technology—to follow the same path. Republicans understand that keeping innovation at home is essential to our global competitiveness and to creating wealth and jobs for Americans.
Too often, voters dismayed by Washington’s dysfunction feel like their vote (and national politics more broadly) doesn’t matter. That’s not true in this case. No matter how much we may be frustrated by the status quo, the truth is that elections offer us the best chance to change course and get our country’s policies back on track. In the case of cryptocurrencies, the vote at the ballot box this year could literally decide their fate. This November, Americans must make their voices heard and send their elected representatives to Washington with one mandate: secure a future for crypto in America.
This is a guest post by Senator Bill Hagerty. The views expressed are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
