Two weeks ago I attended the Democratic National Convention. The main reason I did so was to try to encourage impartiality in our coverage of politics regarding the election and Bitcoin here at Bitcoin Magazine. Earlier this year we were invited to the Republican National Convention at the last minute, after David Bailey began coordinating with the Trump campaign ahead of his speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville in July.
It bothered me to see people associated with this company taking a pro-GOP stance, despite the fact that far more Republican politicians support Bitcoin than Democrats. The Republican Party even formally incorporated Bitcoin into its policy platform at the convention. The Democrats did not.
But that doesn’t mean Democrats aren’t supportive of Bitcoin. Nationally, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Ritchie Torres of New York, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have also been vocal supporters of Bitcoin in Congress. These politicians exist, and they’re vocal, but they don’t seem to have the same resonance with the rest of the party or their base as they do in the Republican Party.
On my first day at the convention, Bitcoin wasn’t mentioned once. It wasn’t a very prominent topic at the Republican National Convention, but it was mentioned. It was included in the party’s policy platform. There was no such inclusion at the Democratic National Convention. The focus of the first day was on the upcoming election, Kamala vs. Trump.
I can only say that the discussion did not focus much on politics. It was mostly rhetorical, focused on general issues of interest to Democratic voters, and included the kind of cheering one might expect at an event focused on the selection of Democratic candidates for this election cycle.
While not explicitly addressing any policies, Democrats touched on many important issues, such as minority inclusion, women’s rights, good-paying jobs, union security, health care (especially with regard to Covid, which is still rampant but not as focused on), and the perceived attempt by Republicans to roll back Democratic progress on many of these issues.
A number of union leaders spoke either in person or via recorded messages during the first day of the conference, including the Arizona Pipeworkers and Plumbers Union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). They all had a lot to say on the topic of jobs lost during COVID, and the job recovery that has occurred under the Biden administration. Union pension funds were another big issue. Union jobs are generally sought after and coveted for the benefits and retirement security that come with them, not just the good base pay.
Is there something special for you? Maybe the fact that Bitcoin could actually come together and help advance these goals that Democrats seem to care about?
Bitcoin has the potential to help economically disadvantaged minorities, at least over long periods of time. Regardless of the skewness of the current market cycle, people who have held Bitcoin for long periods of time have certainly benefited from increased purchasing power. While it takes money to make money, and people who start with less money will see less appreciation, anyone with money to save has historically ended up with more purchasing power over the long term. This won’t help people in poverty as much as those with a large surplus of money to invest, but it will help.
Bitcoin could also help women maintain access to health care, which is increasingly off-limits in parts of the United States. Financial institutions have increasingly censored financial transactions that are culturally offensive, despite their legal status. There’s no reason to assume that this activity will continue to affect only those on the right side of the political spectrum. Bitcoin is an alternative to traditional financial institutions. I don’t have to tell people that it can work even for services that are explicitly illegal.
Workers’ pension funds have also recently begun taking conservative exposure to Bitcoin, which given its long-term historical performance could be a huge benefit to the long-term solvency issues facing pensions across the country.
Bitcoin could be a huge boon for renewable energy, something liberals care deeply about in terms of mitigating the consequences of global climate change and preserving our natural environment. Bitcoin miners are in a very unique position, as AI operators have recently begun to fill a similar niche, to be buyers of stranded renewable energy before it is connected to the grid. This allows revenue to be generated immediately upon completion of these projects, rather than having to wait to connect to retail energy consumers on the grid.
This is to say nothing of the open-access nature of Bitcoin, and how it can promote the philosophy of freedom and inclusion worldwide by giving people a choice in the face of fighting and resisting totalitarian regimes around the world. Bitcoin is a natural fit with many of the stated beliefs and principles of democrats.
So why isn’t this issue getting more attention from the party? Why isn’t it mentioned or included in their political platform like the Republicans?
It’s the rule. US Bitcoin Survey The Nakamoto Project has shown us that Bitcoin ownership is bipartisan, and not as right-wing as it is commonly perceived by the general public. So why does this perception persist? Narratives. Stories. Messages. And the reason the Democratic Party has not been widely interested in Bitcoin as a political issue is not because Democrats and liberals don’t use or hold it, but because of the broader narratives. imagine Bitcoin is a right-wing thing. Associations The disagreement between Bitcoin and important issues seems to be right-wing.
Democratic politicians will generally not care about Bitcoin as a policy, and will treat Bitcoin supporters with a positive policy, unless these narratives and associations change. That’s the reality of politics. Politicians cater to their constituents. They generally don’t take forward-thinking initiatives on their own unless they see some benefit in terms of positive voter reaction and awareness of the initiative. That’s politics.
Shouting at politicians won’t change that, and demonizing them for their negative or indifferent response to their perception of Bitcoin as right-wing in a polarized political climate won’t change that. It takes reaching out to the voter base. That’s the only thing that will change the attitude and actions of Democratic politicians. People on the left need to be shown that Bitcoin is something that aligns with and can advance their political goals and agendas, in the same way that a broader perception has been propagated on the right.
This is undoubtedly an uphill battle given the accumulation of past and current perceptions, but it is the only way to dispel the growing perception that Bitcoin is a right-wing thing. Without a concerted effort to demonstrate and build narratives that show left-leaning people that Bitcoin can and does align with their values, Bitcoin is doomed to be forced into a left/right party paradigm.