“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not cash, and their value is highly volatile and based on air. Unregulated crypto assets can facilitate illegal behavior, including drug trafficking and other illegal activities.”
Fortunately, the official Republican position has changed dramatically since President Donald Trump condemned the emerging cryptocurrency industry in those uncompromising terms in 2019.
Earlier this month, the Republican National Committee adopted an ambitious platform to promote innovation in the U.S. digital asset industry and protect the rights of bitcoin holders.
On the other hand, the official platform pledged that Republicans will “defend the right to mine Bitcoin.” This represents a much-needed departure from the current administration’s policies.
In February of this year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued an “emergency” survey to bitcoin mining companies, demanding highly sensitive information such as the specifications of the machines used, the specific locations of mining operations, and contractual information about their energy business partners. Not only did the EIA demand all of this information, it pledged to publish even the most commercially sensitive parts of it.
This initiative represented an unprecedented intrusion into the activities of Bitcoin miners and a massive attack on the crypto industry. It has prompted organizations like the Texas Blockchain Council to launch legal action to try to protect the rights of the crypto industry from federal interference. So the Republicans’ pledge to “defend the right to mine Bitcoin” is very welcome.
There are other encouraging pledges from Republicans. The GOP said it would “ensure every American has the right to protect their digital assets and transact free from government surveillance and control.”
They also strongly opposed the idea of a central bank digital currency. “Republicans will put an end to Democrats’ illegal and un-American campaign against cryptocurrencies and oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency,” the party said.
Of course, all of this is very encouraging for cryptocurrency advocates. But it still begs the question. What prompted President Trump to change his mind and start embracing the enormous potential of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance? How did this cryptocurrency agenda jump into the spotlight of presidential politics?
If there’s one man who has done more than any other to change Republicans’ minds about cryptocurrencies, it’s Vivek Ramaswamy. The former Republican presidential candidate and businessman clearly wields a growing amount of influence over the Republican Party’s inner circle. At the Republican convention this month, Donald Trump Jr. joked that he’d like Ramaswamy to be his running mate in 2036. Indeed, since his run for president last year, he’s clearly been one of the leading voices at the top of the Republican ranks who has led the party in a more pro-crypto direction.
Ramaswamy made waves in Republican circles when he released a detailed and comprehensive plan for the US crypto space at the North American Blockchain Summit in Texas last year.
But what did he promise to do? Perhaps the most notable move was his promise to fire most of the staff at the bloated Securities and Exchange Commission and order the rest of the staff to stop trying to intimidate the crypto industry. Significantly, Ramaswamy defines many cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, as commodities that are not subject to the SEC’s jurisdiction.
“I think it’s very embarrassing that Gary Gensler, the current head of the SEC, couldn’t even say before Congress whether or not Ethereum is a regulated security,” Ramaswamy said during a Republican debate last year. “This is just another example of the administrative state overstepping its bounds.”
Ramaswamy has been a vocal advocate for innovation in cryptography and the use of decentralized digital currencies as a tool for financial freedom. He has argued that the right to code should be protected by the First Amendment, shielding developers from the overreach of federal agencies.
He also said consumers should have the right to own self-hosted digital wallets outside the reach of the government. Republicans have explicitly embraced it in their 2024 campaign, demonstrating Ramaswamy’s practical influence on Republican policy.
Ramaswamy isn’t the only one who has had a positive impact on Republican politics. In May of last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a law that would ban the use of any potential central bank digital currency in the state. The law “prohibits the use of a federally authorized central bank digital currency by excluding it from the definition of money in the Florida Uniform Commerce Code.”
Such efforts were necessary to make Republican leadership aware of the risks associated with CBDCs and urge them to commit to taking action.
But perhaps the most significant impact of Ramaswamy’s crypto activism has been to convince the broader Republican Party that supporting crypto innovation is in line with their political philosophy and natural instincts.
He has forcefully argued that the current federal assault on the crypto industry is “an embodiment of our national decline” in the way that it represents an attack on innovation and entrepreneurship, values that Republicans have always claimed to hold dear.
Likewise, Ramaswamy has suggested that Bitcoin mining represents “the frontier of American ingenuity” in the same vein as American heroes like Thomas Jefferson—whom Ramaswamy believes “would have been a Bitcoin miner.” This rhetoric seems to have convinced President Trump and Republican leaders that they should indeed be the pro-Bitcoin party.
Another prominent Republican who shares the same view on digital assets as Vivek is Trump’s recent vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance. Senator Vance is an outspoken supporter of Bitcoin and digital assets, and has a background in technology venture capital. He is young and understands the importance of appealing to younger voters.
So what does “four more years” of Trump mean for the US cryptocurrency industry?
Let’s end as we began, with another quote from the president — one that, thanks to the efforts of Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Vance and others, illustrates how much the Republican position on cryptocurrencies has changed over the past few years.
“I will end Joe Biden’s war on crypto. We will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of Bitcoin is made in America.”
This is a guest post by Mark Schott and Lee Bratcher. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.