Presidential candidate Donald Trump recently expressed his backing for crypto, indicating that he would cease hostility towards crypto in the US if he were to be re-elected.
“If we’re going to embrace it, we have to let them be.” He also told the audience that if they like crypto, “you better vote for Trump.”
In the past, Trump publicly attacked Bitcoin and other digital currencies. In July 2019, he denounced their volatility and lack of inherent value, calling them “not money.” He further argued that these assets might help with illicit activities like drug trafficking.
Crypto’s Role in Shaping Voter Preferences
According to Coinbase, about 20% of American adults, or over 50m individuals, claim to hold crypto. Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO Network, said that this substantial figure has undoubtedly captured the attention of the candidates.
“To embrace crypto and solid crypto regulation is a good election strategy and clever policy more generally,” he said. “Absolutely, a sizable number of people in the crypto community will vote for Trump based on his seemingly positive approach towards the industry.”
The CEO of prime brokerage Blueberry, Jonathan Thomas, claimed that voters will prioritize cryptocurrency as a single issue because of Trump’s pro-crypto posture.
“This is an aspect that some people hold dear to their hearts, and will vote for which candidate supports their bias,” he said. He went on, “Crypto enthusiasts will connect with his pro-crypto talk, but only if it does not conflict with other issues they care about even more.”
Skepticism Surrounding Donald Trump’s Crypto Advocacy
Thorne Melcher, an NFT enthusiast, called Trump’s most recent endorsement “flimsy.” She pointed out that it is a big change from his earlier critical comments.
“Given crypto’s potential to facilitate the purchase of trans hormone replacement therapy, abortions, and drugs circumventing politics pushed by conservatives, it only feels like a matter of time before they involve it in their authoritarian crackdowns,” she said.
She did point out that this does not mean that Biden supports cryptocurrencies. However, it does not seem like there are many advantages to backing Trump purely for the sake of cryptocurrency, and Trump is unlikely to win many votes by endorsing it alone.
Trump’s Strategy to Woo Crypto Voters Away from Biden
Trump used to be skeptical of cryptocurrencies, but these days he fully supports NFT. He is a market participant who has sold over $1 million worth of NFTs, some of which have his mugshot on them.
Co-founder of the DeFi protocol Veda Stephanie Vaughan claims that it is clear that a large portion of the cryptocurrency community leans toward either Trump or against Biden.
“I think that during the last election, there were probably a lot of crypto-focused voters who voted for Biden. Because, at that time, it wasn’t clear that he would take such a hardline approach against the industry,” she said.
“It’s clear now, however, that regulation by enforcement is the stance taken by the Biden Administration. And this is totally unworkable for a very large number of people who work in the industry or who are generally favorable towards it.”
She claimed that Trump recognizes the growing importance of cryptocurrency to a sizable percentage of voters in the next election. As a result, he is working hard to draw them away from Biden.