“I am not a fan of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, which are not money and whose value is highly volatile and based on nothing. Unregulated cryptoassets can facilitate illegal conduct, including drug trafficking and other illegal activities.”
Fortunately, the Republican Party’s official position has changed dramatically since President Donald J. Trump condemned the emerging cryptocurrency industry in such uncompromising terms in 2019.
Earlier this month, the Republican National Committee adopted an ambitious platform to promote innovation in the U.S. digital asset industry and protect the rights of bitcoin holders.
First, the official platform promises that Republicans will “defend the right to mine bitcoin,” which represents a much-needed shift from the current administration’s policies.
In February of this year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued an “emergency” survey to bitcoin mining companies, demanding highly sensitive information such as the specifications of the machines they used, the specific locations of their mining operations, and contractual information related to their energy trading partners. Not only did the EIA demand all of this information, it pledged to publish even the most commercially sensitive bits of it.
This initiative represented an unprecedented intrusion into the activities of bitcoin miners and a massive attack on the cryptocurrency industry. It prompted organizations such as the Texas Blockchain Council to initiate legal proceedings to try to protect the rights of the cryptocurrency industry against federal intervention. Therefore, the Republicans' promise to “defend the right to mine bitcoins” is very welcome.
Republicans have made other encouraging promises. The GOP has said it will “ensure that every American has the right to custody of their digital assets and to conduct transactions free from government surveillance and control.”
They have also come out strongly against the idea of a CBDC. “Republicans will end the Democrats’ illegal and anti-American crackdown on cryptocurrencies and oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency,” the party said.
Of course, all of this is very encouraging for digital asset industry advocates, but it still begs the question: what made President Trump change his mind and start embracing the huge potential of digital assets and decentralized finance? How has this pro-digital asset agenda made it to the presidential political spotlight?
If there’s one man who has done more to change Republicans’ minds about cryptocurrencies than anyone else, it’s Vivek Ramaswamy. The former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur is clearly having more and more influence in the inner circle of the Republican Party. At this month’s Republican Convention, Donald Trump Jr joked that he would like Ramaswamy to be his running mate in 2036. In fact, since his presidential bid last year, it’s clear that he’s been one of the leading voices in the upper echelons of the Republicans who have steered the party in a more pro-cryptocurrency direction.
Ramaswamy caused a stir in Republican circles when, at the North American Blockchain Summit in Texas last year, he laid out a detailed and comprehensive plan for the US crypto space.
What did he pledge to do? Perhaps the most striking move was his promise to fire most of the employees of the bloated Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and order the rest to stop trying to bully the cryptocurrency industry. Importantly, Ramaswamy defines many cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as commodities that are therefore not under the jurisdiction of the SEC.
“I think it’s shameful that Gary Gensler, the current head of the SEC, hasn’t even been able to say before Congress whether ethereum is a regulated security or not,” Ramaswamy said during one of the Republican debates last year. “This is another example of the administrative state going too far.”
Ramaswamy has been a vocal advocate for innovation in the crypto space and the use of decentralized digital currencies as a tool for financial freedom. He has argued that the right to code should be a right protected by the First Amendment, which shields developers from the excesses of federal agencies.
He has also said that consumers should have the right to own self-hosted digital wallets outside the reach of the government. This has been explicitly adopted by Republicans for their 2024 election campaign, demonstrating the practical influence Ramaswamy is having on Republican politics.
It’s not just Ramaswamy who has been positively influencing Republican politics. In May of last year, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, signed into law a law banning any potential use of CBDCs in the state. The regulation “prohibits the use of a federally adopted CBDC by excluding it from the definition of money within the Florida Uniform Commercial Code.”
Efforts like this have been instrumental in raising awareness among Republican leaders about the dangers associated with CBDCs and encouraging them to commit to taking action.
But perhaps the most important impact of Ramaswamy’s crypto activism is persuading the broader Republican Party that supporting crypto innovation is in line with their political philosophy and natural instincts.
He has argued powerfully that the current federal attack on the cryptocurrency industry is “an embodiment of our national decline” in the way it represents an attack on innovation and entrepreneurship, two values that Republicans have long claimed to hold dear.
Ramaswamy has also noted that bitcoin mining is “a frontier in American innovation,” along the lines of American heroes like Thomas Jefferson, who Ramaswamy says “would have been a bitcoin miner.” This rhetoric appears to have worked to convince President Trump and Republican leaders that they should, indeed, be the pro-bitcoin party.
Another key emerging figure in the Republican Party who has a similar view to Vivek on digital assets is Trump’s vice presidential nominee JD Vance. Senator Vance is very outspoken in his support for bitcoin and digital assets and has a background in tech venture capital. He is young and understands the importance of courting younger voters.
So what will President Trump’s “four more years” mean for the US digital asset industry?
Let’s end where we began, with another quote from the President, one that shows, thanks to the efforts of Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Vance and others, how much the Republican stance on cryptocurrencies has changed in recent years.
“I will end Joe Biden’s war on crypto. We will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of bitcoin are built in America.”
This is a guest post by Mark Shut and Lee Bratcher. The views expressed are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
