Since Donald Trump has become more vocal To support Bitcoin As this year’s presidential campaign approaches, I’m sitting with a wide range of emotions and concerns.
Outside of Bitcoin, as a left-wing voter and outspoken critic of Donald Trump, I have deep concerns about such a narcissistic, self-centered figure holding power in the Oval Office again, not to mention the damage this could do to the issues I care deeply about. We care about things in the United States including women’s right to choose, reproductive rights, immigration, world affairs, and beyond.
I got into the Bitcoin world and started writing and running Progressive Bitcoiner magazine and advocating for Bitcoin among those outside the right/liberal bubble because I was very concerned about Bitcoin being seen as “right-wing” or politically polarizing. It is open source code, peer-to-peer digital cash, and is not affiliated with any ideology or political party. I believe in its importance for radically improving our world and improving the lives of millions and billions of people. Campaigns from the left have already begun, such as: Greenpeace USAElizabeth Warren Anti-crypto armyAnd, beyond that, we assume that Bitcoin is a haven for criminals and terrorists, a climate denier for fossil fuel tycoons, and only for the rich and the wealthy. Wall Street. Despite advances in data showing that Bitcoin is one of the most, if not the most, Sustainable industries on this planetIt’s a growing list of Human rights use cases What’s more, appealing to progressives and the left on Bitcoin (yes Bitcoin specifically, not cryptocurrencies) remains an uphill battle. What should we expect after years of rising Bitcoin voices promoting various right-leaning ideologies, encouraging books like The Bitcoin Standard, and various extremist tropes of the right-wing lifestyle including carnivorous diets, traditional family values, and skepticism of science and climate science, And beyond.
The Trump campaign, and Bitcoin users openly donating to, interacting with, and supporting Trump, makes my job that much more difficult. Figuratively, we’ve gone from going fishing (in terms of Bitcoin’s ongoing adoption) to throwing a grenade into the water, without even pausing to think about how that impacts the bigger picture.
The truth is that after the election of Donald Trump in 2016, and the doubling down of Hillary and a Democratic Party that calls its supporters a “basket of deplorables,” (yes I criticize the left too!) population numbers skyrocketed, leaving most of them feeling politically displaced (some studies suggest There are between 70 million and 100 million Americans.
The left has corrupted the culture of purity. If your point of view, means to an end, etc. is not approved by the leftist system (or you are not well-versed in dozens of leftist philosophers and the latest theories), you are out of the game! Trump and Bitcoiners aside, this is also why it’s so hard to get them to do business with Bitcoin, because it’s not what their tribe uses, it’s right-wing money (according to them).
Trump and his party have outpaced the right. Conservatives/Republicans in the past were driven by values, policies, and ideas, which I may agree or disagree with. But now it has become just a complete chaos fueled and led by Trump, who has no political philosophy or value system, but merely arrogance.
Bitcoin should be a tool to cut through this noise. A tool that any ideology in this case can find useful and valuable. Instead, I’m deeply concerned that the narrative may well cling to Trumpism for the next few years, and beyond. Do I finally worry about Bitcoin, its code, its utility, its use cases and beyond? Not for this Trump/political reason, not necessarily (I have concerns about regulatory capture via ETFs, centralization of mining, lack of privacy and better tools for using peer-to-peer Bitcoin, etc… but that’s a conversation for another time).
I simply think it’s a bad move on the part of Bitcoiners to put all their eggs in Trump’s basket, or any political basket for that matter. There is severe reputational risk, and slow adoption of this idea in the US for those (especially leftists) who will see this as a “Trump thing” or “right-wing” and reinforce this narrative, and for politicians who will respond by doubling down on the narratives. They continue to try to put pressure on Bitcoin.
As for the social class of Bitcoin, I think it is in the interest to continue to educate about Bitcoin, advocate for its adoption at the grassroots level at the individual/community level, and hold politicians accountable when they try to overreach (such as Elizabeth Warren wanting to create A backdoor ban on self-confinement…no, we’re not going to let that fly, not to mention that it’s blatantly unconstitutional), and not cling too closely to the words of politicians on the campaign trail, no matter who they are, that they’re just out to get votes, no matter what. This may happen once they take office (or what they can actually do, vis-à-vis the legislative and judicial branches).
For me, as an independent voter, I care deeply about Bitcoin, its long-term success, and I see as many people around the world as possible using and benefiting from this revolutionary money and technology. Whether for Bitcoin, for reasons beyond Bitcoin or for my values I mentioned above, I cannot in good conscience support Donald Trump. You do not have to vote for Donald Trump to support Bitcoin, learn about it, use it, or contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, my hope is that among the growing group of Trump supporters from the Bitcoin community, those looking in from the outside may see that we are not all on the same page, and that Bitcoin is available to anyone regardless of your political party or who you plan to vote for. He will have it next November.
This is a guest post by Trey Walsh. The views expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.