Crypto ‘fools’ and the 2024 election
U.S. voters will choose their next president in less than six months, and, as incredible as it sounds, crypto could shape the outcome. Recall that, four years ago, the crypto industry would be lucky if a major candidate mentioned Bitcoin in passing. Now, candidates are rushing to cozy up—attracted no doubt by the industry's $100 million-plus campaign war chest—including former President and one-time Bitcoin hater Donald Trump, who praised crypto while speaking to a gaggle of NFT-buying groupies at Mar-a-Lago last week.
Blockchain's ascendance to the crypto big leagues has also touched off some very small-time drama among the crowd known as Crypto Twitter. It began when a pair of respected BlockWorks editors published an op-ed that had the inflammatory headline "Only a fool would vote on crypto alone" but was otherwise a perfectly reasonable take. The piece pointed out that a number of the pro-crypto candidates appear driven entirely by opportunism, not conviction, and that there are much bigger things at stake in November than passing a stablecoin law or whatever. This line sums it up: "Voting for a candidate you would not otherwise support, simply because they favor the deregulation of a sector in which you hold a profit motive, is a compromise that you should not make."
It's not a controversial take but, since this is crypto, the op-ed triggered the usual social media screeching as people lined up to dunk on the authors and declare they would never read BlockWorks again. Oh, puh-leeze. I've written myself about how crypto has to stop embracing every kook and demagogue who blows a kiss at Bitcoin. And while Gary Gensler's antics at the SEC are a legitimate frustration for crypto entrepreneurs, the op-ed is right that they pale in importance next to, say, the Supreme Court's decision to strip reproductive freedom from tens of millions of women, or the unchecked surge of migrants bum-rushing the southern border.
In some cases, people will cast their ballot for president based entirely on crypto, and that's their business. These will include some crypto entrepreneurs seeking the best outcome for their company, as well as some poorly socialized young men for whom crypto really is the most important issue in the election. But such people represent a tiny percentage of the overall electorate (though they could be the difference in a close race). Everyone else will vote on the truly big issues of the day.
As a final aside, the silly drama over the BlockWorks op-ed did provide an interesting exchange between two of the smartest people in the industry about whether crypto is an intrinsically partisan issue. VC Nic Carter argued crypto is and should be aligned with the right in order to check the left's impulse to politicize finance. Crypto OG and staunch libertarian Erik Voorhees countered that both the left and the right want to control your money, and that crypto is inherently opposed to both. (You can read the exchange here). Enjoy your day.
Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
