Last month in New York Times Top DealBookPolitical analyst and media personality Van Jones acknowledged that Democrats made a huge mistake in not only largely ignoring crypto voters but also acting against them during the last election cycle and more broadly during President Biden’s time in office.
“50 million people bought some cryptocurrency, and that’s a bet on the future,” Jones said.
“They are trying to get to a better future. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren winning in the crypto space was not smart,” he added.
CNN host @fanjones68 “Democrats have kicked people out of the party over crypto,” he says. 50 million people bought cryptocurrencies. “It’s a bet on a better future.” pic.twitter.com/Ee8NlutNK1
– Documenting ₿itcoin 📄 (DocumentingBTC) January 6, 2025
Jones is one of the first prominent Democrats to publicly acknowledge after the election that Democrats should have invited those who own bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to join the party rather than turning them away.
The question now is: Will other well-known Democrats follow Jones’ lead? What would their policy proposals look like if they did?
The last question is especially important because while Democrats may start out saying they are “pro-crypto,” the devil is in the details.
For example, when I interviewed former Congressman Wiley Nickel (D-NC), one of the few outspoken supporters of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the Democratic Party, last year, I asked him whether he would support the right of bitcoin and cryptocurrency owners to keep their money. Private keys.
This was his response:
“In Congress, we were really focused on doing a few things before we got to the next level of things. It had to do with industry regulation and FIT21 and the digital asset market structure bill and stablecoins. We got sidetracked.” SAP121 For bank safekeeping.
These are the things that I think we need to address first, and then we move on to the next layer of things, and I really hope that we can get those things done in this Congress.
The right to keep one’s private keys is “the first level of things” in my book, and its lack of a direct answer to my question worried me, especially when compared With what Trump said about this At the Libertarian National Convention in May 2024:
“I will support the right to self-custody (for) the country’s 50 million cryptocurrency holders.” -Donald J. Trump
So, if Democrats are to start changing their rhetoric when it comes to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, they will also have to get right when it comes to policy proposals if they plan to win over the voters they lost in this past election cycle. The midterm elections are coming.
This article is a takes. The opinions expressed are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.