7 Presidential Candidates Dropped Clues About Their Crypto Stances

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At the end of 2024, citizens of the United States of America will head to the polling stations to elect their next president – ​​a four-year term that could have a massive impact on the next crypto bull run.

Although the election is set to begin on November 5, 2024, dozens of US politicians have already indicated their intention to contest President Joe Biden for the nation’s top job.

The current Biden administration appears to be taking an increasingly anti-crypto stance. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is bidding for the job again – setting the stage for a rematch. Other Democrats and Republicans are seeking to carry the presidential nomination.

‘No core value’: Joe Biden – Democrat

The current President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, launched his re-election bid on April 25, and is, at the moment, the presumptive favorite for the Democrats’ presidential nomination.

Biden’s attitude towards crypto is perhaps best summed up by his 2023 presidential economic report which includes a section on crypto for the first time since its introduction in 1950.

The section aims to eliminate the “perceived appeal of crypto assets”. It argued that crypto does not deliver on the “touted” benefits and claimed that “many of them have no fundamental value.”

Biden has rallied against alleged crypto “tax loopholes” and even opposed a debt ceiling deal with Republicans because he claimed it protected “wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders” .

His March 2022 executive order culminated with the first framework for crypto. He has called for a 30% tax on crypto mining electricity use, a doubling of capital gains taxes, and a crackdown on crypto wash sales.

‘Not a fan of bitcoin’: Donald Trump – Republican

Trump, the former president-turned-NFT salesman, threw in his non-consecutive re-election bid on November 15, 2022. according to current voteHe is the preferred Republican candidate.

Trump has said that crypto “could be fake” and is “a disaster waiting to happen.” He also said that bitcoin (BTC) “just seems like a scam” and he doesn’t like it “because it’s just another currency against the dollar.”

As president in July 2019, Trump tweeted that he was “not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies” and that their value was “based on thin air”.

During his presidency, Trump targeted the use of cryptocurrencies in financial crimes and reportedly told his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after bitcoin” in trade sanctions talks against China. “Cryptocurrencies” were mentioned in his 2021 budget proposal, but only to explain their use in crimes.

However, he did cut the capital gains tax, which could be favorable to crypto users. Trump administration officials once promoted Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) as a technology that could benefit government operations and strengthen the country’s cyber security.

‘Every Right To Bitcoin’: Ron DeSantis – Republican

Ron DeSantis said he would “protect bitcoin” in a May 24 presidential bid announcement on Twitter. Polls taken before the Florida governor’s announcement have made him the second favorite to Trump.

During the kick-off of his Twitter Space campaign, DeSantis said “you have every right to do bitcoin” and “will protect the ability to do things like bitcoin.”

He called out Congress, claiming it “never addressed cryptocurrencies” and that regulators did it “so people can’t operate in that space.”

His 2022-2023 budget proposal for the state of Florida proposed that the government allow businesses to pay state fees with cryptocurrency.

DeSantis is perhaps best known as an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) figure.

They passed legislation in Florida prohibiting a federal CBDC from being used as money and banning the use of foreign CBDCs. He also opposed the Federal Reserve’s FedNow 24/7 instant payment system, claiming it is a CBDC precursor.

‘Bitcoin should not be regulated as a security’: Vivek Ramaswamy – Republican

Pharmaceutical firm founder Vivek Ramaswamy has also indicated a pro-crypto stance, but is considered a long shot for the Republican nomination.

In mid-May, Ramaswamy tweeted “Bitcoin should not be regulated as a security.” At the Bitcoin 2023 conference, he announced that he would be accepting campaign donations in bitcoin.

At the conference, Ramaswamy reaffirmed that bitcoin should not be considered a security, saying “we need to keep it that way.”

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“Bitcoin is limited in quantity, there is no issuer. It should never have been treated as a security under existing securities laws,” he said.

‘A major innovation engine’: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Democrat

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seen as unlikely to be put forward for the presidency by Democrats – but he has indicated a pro-crypto stance.

Earlier in May he said that “crypto technologies are a major innovation engine” and called bitcoin “a symbol of democracy and freedom” in a speech at the Bitcoin 2023 conference.

He is accepting BTC for campaign donations and was the first presidential candidate to do so, defeating Ramaswamy by a few days.

Kennedy called Biden’s proposed 30% crypto miner energy tax “a bad idea” and opposed CBDCs because they “increases the power of government too much.” For this reason, he opposes the Fed’s FedNow system.

other people

Nikki Haley, the declared third favorite Republican candidate, has not publicly addressed her views on crypto.

Democratic candidate Marianne Willamson hasn’t either, but has expressed her dismay over the Canadian government’s blocking of crypto wallets during the 2022 truck protest.

Republican Senator Tim Scott is also a bidder and similarly has no stated crypto policies. However, he did have plans to develop a crypto “bipartisan regulatory framework”.

He has been critical of the securities regulator’s handling of FTX and has questioned whether they are “asleep at the wheel.”

Cointelegraph reached out to the campaigns of Haley, Williamson and Scott to clarify their position on crypto but did not receive a response.

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