As Americans head to the polls this fall, their decision about who will lead our country will also determine the fate of cryptocurrencies here in the United States, and our security, prosperity, and freedom are at stake.
This week, I will join President Trump and thousands of cryptocurrency market participants in Nashville for Bitcoin 2024, the world’s largest Bitcoin conference. This year’s conference is being held in my home state at a time that clearly represents a turning point for the future of crypto technology in the United States. This fall, the future of crypto in America will be on the ballot as our nation decides who will lead our executive and legislative branches. The contrast between the Democratic and Republican approaches to crypto is stark. The Biden administration has repeatedly demonstrated its hostility to crypto by refusing to provide a basic regulatory framework for the industry, while simultaneously taking enforcement action against companies for allegedly violating nonexistent rules. This combination of legal uncertainty and aggressive enforcement has pushed many crypto innovators to the brink, leaving them with no choice but to move their businesses overseas.
Meanwhile, Democrats have also taken extreme measures to suppress crypto adoption in the traditional financial system. Biden’s regulators have forced crypto banks like Signature Bank into receivership while imposing anti-crypto policies like the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, which makes it extremely expensive for financial institutions to hold clients’ crypto assets. Taken together, the Biden administration’s record illustrates what four more years of Democratic political control could bring: more political persecution of the industry on a scale reminiscent of Obama’s Operation Choke Point.
By contrast, Republicans have taken concrete steps to develop constructive crypto policies that embody the party’s longstanding commitment to the principles of innovation, free enterprise, and individual freedom. House Republicans have passed promising bills that would provide legislative clarity for the structure of the crypto market and private, dollar-denominated stablecoins. Republicans in both chambers have worked together to try to undo Biden’s most egregious policies, address concerns about illicit finance, foster private-sector innovation in stablecoins, and prevent the development of a central bank digital currency. Republican control of Congress and the White House would enable the GOP to expand and implement these efforts, provide constructive rules of the road for crypto, and end Biden’s oppressive regime of regulation through enforcement.
If Republicans don’t stop Democrats from trying to crush crypto in America, the consequences could be dire. Four more years of hostility will force more crypto innovators to move abroad. Prominent U.S. exchanges have already begun opening operations in other countries, seeking licenses in foreign jurisdictions, and closing their U.S. operations. In recent years, lawmakers in Washington have realized how allowing another critical industry—semiconductors—to move abroad has weakened our nation’s competitiveness and geopolitical influence. It would be foolish to allow crypto—the cutting-edge technology of this generation—to follow the same path as crypto. Republicans understand that keeping innovation at home is essential to our global competitiveness and to creating wealth and jobs for Americans.
Too often, voters frustrated by Washington’s dysfunction feel that their vote—and national politics more broadly—doesn’t matter. That’s not true here. No matter how frustrated we are with the status quo, the truth is that elections offer our best chance to change course and get our country’s politics back on track. In the case of crypto, voting at the ballot box this year could literally decide its fate. In November, Americans should make their voices heard and send their elected representatives to Washington with a mandate: to secure a future for crypto in America.
This is a blog post written by Senator Bill Hagerty. The views expressed here are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.