Following stops in Arizona, Nevada, and Detroit, the America Loves Crypto tour arrived in Wisconsin on Friday, September 13, where local Bitcoin and crypto voters in the state rallied to support crypto-friendly candidates in the upcoming U.S. elections. At the Red Rock Saloon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, more than 200 people — including founders, politicians, and tech enthusiasts — gathered to ask the question: How can we support Bitcoin and crypto on Capitol Hill?
Wisconsin was split nearly in half in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, with Biden and Trump receiving 1,630,866 and 1,610,184 votes respectively. With 840,000 Wisconsinites owning some form of cryptocurrency, the narrow 2020 electoral margin of just 20,000 votes could easily be disrupted by an inconclusive crypto vote in 2024.
The America Loves Crypto crowd was greeted by politicians from both sides of the aisle as well as representatives from the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry, followed by rising artist Jessie Murph, whose slick blend of country and pop music has resonated with a surprising number of fans.
Speaking at the event were Josh Shuman, Washington County Executive (R); Peter Borgles, Milwaukee City Councilman (D); Kara Calvert, Head of U.S. Policy at Coinbase; Dom Bay, Founder of Proof of Workforce; Spencer Smith, Founder of AmpliPhi Digital; Tiara Nicole, Co-Founder of Craft the Future; Ian McCullough, Chair of Stand With Crypto WI and Co-Founder of Awen; and Maggie Schmidt, Co-Founder of Awen.
Investing Bitcoin in Wisconsin State Pension Fund
In May of this year, the Wisconsin State Investment Board (SWIB) invested $162 million in Bitcoin ETFs, becoming the first US state pension fund to invest in the asset class.
“The Wisconsin pension system is a very healthy fund, and it is almost 100% funded,” Dom Pai told Bitcoin Magazine. “There are very few pension funds in the United States that can boast that, and it is the 10th largest pension fund in the country.”
“They have a good balance between conservatism and innovation,” he added. “It’s huge because they’re healthy and seen nationally as leaders in this field.”
Bai is a firefighter in Santa Monica, California and founder of the 501(c)(4) nonprofit Bitcoin. Proof of establishment of the workforce Who educates workers, unions, pensions, and municipalities through education-based adoption of Bitcoin? For Pai, the trend of investing in Bitcoin pensions will continue to gain momentum.
“The $5 billion Houston Firefighters Relief and Pension Fund was actually the first public pension fund to buy Bitcoin in 2021,” Pai explained.
“The state of Michigan has also set aside a small $7 million for Bitcoin-powered ETFs. It will be interesting to see what pensions will follow, whether they are underwater and poorly managed, or fully funded and operating from a solid footing,” he added.
For Pai, Bitcoin is not just a tool for risk managers and Wall Streeters seeking to outperform, but an opportunity to reengineer the American city to benefit wage earners, not just those in power.
“It’s not necessarily about municipalities just owning bitcoin, it’s really about activating the bitcoin community, innovating within it, and competing to bring in bitcoin businesses while increasing financial literacy for everyone,” Bai said.
“If union members and workers learn the history of Bitcoin and why it was created, they will immediately understand Bitcoin’s place in the story of unions and the rise of organized labor,” Pai said. “Bitcoin was created in response to the financial system placing its failures on the shoulders of workers.”
The nonprofit organization Pai has partnered with the city of Santa Monica to launch a Bitcoin office in Santa Monica, modeled after the Bitcoin office in El Salvador, to launch the peer-to-peer Bitcoin festival in October of this year during Los Angeles Tech Week.
When it comes to other investment allocators making the big move into Bitcoin and crypto, Spencer Smith, founder of marketing firm AmpliPhi Digital and a board member of the Wisconsin Technology Council, sees Wisconsin’s allocation as a very important signal to the investment community.
“If you’re an investment manager reporting to a committee, you can point to Wisconsin and say, ‘Well, they did this, here’s how they did it, and why I suggest we allocate (money to bitcoin),’” Smith said. “Having the first-mover advantage is important for Wisconsin, (and) it really paves the way for the rest of the states as well.”
Smith also noted that Bitcoin’s sideways price action, after the massive rally in 2021, has led to clearer conversations among Wisconsin lawmakers as well.
“Now that the noise has died down, it gives us a lot more room to educate on a more grounded basis of understanding, ‘How do we understand this? Now that there are ETFs, how do we publish them? How do you explain compliance?’” he said.
Incentives first, party second.
Wisconsin has seen a stark divide between its rural and urban voters, reflecting a larger national trend of partisan polarization where rural voters tend to vote Republican and urban voters tend to vote Democratic. Despite this backdrop, the Red Rock Saloon featured a unique mix of partisanship, with Republicans, Democrats, and even independents seeing value in courting crypto voters.
Speaking in the dark blue city of Milwaukee, Joe Shuman (R), executive director of rural Washington County, received loud cheers in response to his emphasis on the importance of cryptocurrencies as a means to prosperity for ordinary Americans.
“I have been focused on giving the American dream to the American citizen, and cryptocurrency represents that for all of us,” Shuman told the crowd.
It’s no secret that the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry has seen what many have seen as unjustified, or at least unwelcome, attacks by national regulators in the past few years, and for that reason, the industry is not backing down.
Milwaukee City Councilman Peter Borgles (D) reiterated that position.
“I ran for office because the election didn’t go my way and I was angry,” Alderman told the crowd.
“And when things don’t go your way, you can post something stupid on social media or you can put on your shoes and run. I ran and I won,” he added.
“Cryptocurrency matters and your voice matters. Get out and vote.”
U.S. Senate candidate Phil Anderson (I) spoke about the fact that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies seem to be one of the few issues that can transcend party lines.
“We no longer have representative government,” Anderson told Bitcoin Magazine.
“The lobbyists write the bills, and the two-party system forces the representatives to vote a certain way,” he added. “This applies to what the entire Congress agrees on: continued spending on war, continued spending without any responsibility, and the misuse of paper money.”
“Everything is connected, and it is important to support Bitcoin and blockchain as a means to make our government more transparent and more accountable.”
Through his campaign slogan #DisruptTheCorruption, Anderson sees Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a technological and electoral priority for representative democracy.
The next America Loves Crypto event will be at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania On September 16, this was followed by an event attended by 600 people at Washington DC., which culminated with a standout performance by The Chainsmokers to close out the tour.
Attendees may RSVP For free events via Stand With Crypto.
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