7 presidential candidates have dropped clues about their crypto stance

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

Though the polls begin on November 5, 2024, dozens of US politicians have already expressed their intent to contest President Joe Biden for the country’s top spot.

The current Biden administration appears to be taking an increasingly anti-crypto stance. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is bidding for the job again – paving the way for a rematch. Others are trying to carry the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.

‘No Fundamental Value’: Joe Biden – Democrat

Current United States President Joe Biden began his re-election campaign on April 25 and is currently the likely favorite for the Democrat’s presidential nominee.

Biden’s stance on crypto is perhaps best summed up by his 2023 Economic Report of the President, which included a section on crypto for the first time since its inception in 1950.

The section aimed to debunk the “perceived appeal of crypto assets”. It argued that crypto does not deliver “touted” benefits and claimed that “many of them lack fundamental value”.

Biden has spoken out against alleged crypto “tax loopholes” and even opposed a debt ceiling deal with Republicans, claiming it protected “wealthy tax evaders and crypto traders.”

We don’t have to guess what MAGA House Republicans value. They tell us. pic.twitter.com/BM6JGMEFeq

—President Biden (@POTUS) May 9, 2023

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

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

The former president turned NFT salesman threw Trump in his non-consecutive re-election bid on November 15, 2022. According to current polls, he is the favored Republican nominee.

Trump has said crypto “might be fake” and is “a disaster waiting to happen”. He has also said that Bitcoin (BTC) “just seems like a scam” and didn’t like it “because it’s another currency that competes with the dollar.”

In July 2019, as president, Trump tweeted that he was “not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies” and claimed that their value was “based in nothing”.

I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on air. Unregulated crypto assets can facilitate illegal behavior, including drug trafficking and other illegal activities….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

During his presidency, Trump focused on the use of crypto in financial crimes and reportedly told his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after Bitcoin” in a talk about trade sanctions against China. “Cryptocurrencies” were mentioned in his 2021 budget proposal, but only to explain their use in crimes.

However, he considered a capital gains tax reduction that could have benefited crypto users. Trump administration officials once touted distributed ledger technology (DLT) as a technology that could benefit government operations and bolster the nation’s cybersecurity defenses.

‘Every right to do Bitcoin’: Ron DeSantis – Republican

Ron DeSantis said he would “protect” Bitcoin in his May 24 presidential bid announcement on Twitter. Polls ahead of the Florida governor’s announcement say he’s the second favorite to Trump.

Kicking off his Twitter Space campaign, DeSantis said, “You have every right to do Bitcoin” and would “protect the ability to do things like Bitcoin.”

He called on Congress, claiming it had “never tackled” crypto and said regulators had made it so “people can’t operate in that space.”

Do you want a presidential candidate to support your right to aid? #Bitcoin before they can earn your vote?

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) May 27, 2023

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

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

He passed laws in Florida prohibiting the use of a federal CBDC as money and banned the use of foreign CBDCs. He has 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

The pharmaceutical company founder Vivek Ramaswamy has also signaled 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 accept campaign donations in Bitcoin.

Competition breeds innovation. Bitcoin should not be regulated as a security. Will explain more on the @TheBitcoinConf on Saturday. @Bitcoin #Bitcoin #Bitcoin2023 pic.twitter.com/CtMPxIwsMR

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRAmaswamy) May 17, 2023

At the conference, Ramaswamy reaffirmed that Bitcoin should not be considered a security, saying, “We should keep it that way.”

Related: The White House’s new default strategy may have implications for the crypto industry’s KYC

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

“A Major Driver of Innovation”: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Democrat

It is unlikely that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being proposed for president by the Democrats, but he has signaled pro-crypto stances.

Earlier in May, he said that “cryptotechnologies are an important driver of innovation” and called Bitcoin a “symbol of democracy and freedom” in a speech at the Bitcoin 2023 conference.

He accepts BTC for campaign donations and was the first presidential candidate ever to do so, beating Ramaswamy by a few days.

Cryptocurrencies, led by bitcoin, along with other crypto technologies are a major driver of innovation. It is a mistake on the part of the US government to hinder industry and encourage innovation elsewhere. Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea.

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (@RobertKennedyJr) May 3, 2023

Kennedy called Biden’s proposed 30% energy tax on cryptominers “a bad idea” and opposes CBDCs because they “vastly increase the power of the government”. He opposes the Fed’s FedNow system for the same reason.

The others

Third-favorite declared Republican nominee Nikki Haley has not publicly expressed her views on crypto.

Democratic nominee Marianne Willamson has also expressed no disappointment with the Canadian government blocking crypto wallets during the 2022 truck protests.

Canada, are you okay…?

— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) February 18, 2022

Republican Senator Tim Scott is also a bidder and does not have an official crypto policy either. However, he did have plans to develop a crypto “dual regulatory framework”.

He was critical of the securities regulator’s handling of FTX, wondering if they had “fallen asleep at the wheel.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Haley, Williamson and Scott’s campaigns to clarify their positions on crypto, but received no response.

Magazine: Crypto Regulation – Does SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Have the Last Word?