Ethereum ETH/USD co-counder Vitalik Buterin warned his five million social media followers on Wednesday that it’s perhaps not wise to favor political parties and candidates entirely on how friendly they are to the crypto sector.
What Happened: With former President Donald Trump showing a change of opinion on Bitcoin BTC/USD and the sector, some voters are making donations to his campaign solely because of his pro-crypto stance.
Buterin, however, is against "choosing your political allegiances based on who is ‘pro crypto,”.
"Over the last couple of years, crypto has become an increasingly important topic in political policy, with various jurisdictions considering bills that regulate various actors doing blockchain things in various ways," Buterin said.
While Buterin said many of the bills are reasonable, there remains a fear that coins will be treated as securities or self-hosted wallets will be banned.
Buterin said there is a push to favor political parties and candidates entirely on how friendly they are to the crypto sector.
"A near-exclusive focus on cryptocurrency and blockchains is more difficult to defend, and importantly it was not the ideology that originally created crypto in the first place."
Buterin said there are foundational freedoms from crypto tokens that include privacy of communication, privacy-friendly digital identity, freedom and privacy of thought and high-quality access to information.
"Don't stand with crypto-as-in-cryptocurrency, stand with those underlying goals, and the whole set of policy implications that they imply."
Many politicians have shown opinion on the ability to trade coins, but not on the foundational freedom topics, Buterin adds. "This in turn implies a high risk that they will likely have different conclusions from you on issues that you will care about in the future."
Buterin also warns that politicians who appear pro-crypto today might not be viewed as pro-crypto in the future.
"By publicly giving the impression that you support ‘pro-crypto' candidates just because they are ‘pro-crypto,; you are helping to create an incentive gradient where politicians come to understand that all they need to get your support is to support crypto,” he said.
Why It's Important: Buterin's opinion post comes as more big names in business and cryptocurrency are donating to Trump's campaign. Optimism for Trump’s vice-presidential pick of J.D. Vance, who holds Bitcoin and has been viewed as pro-crypto, also hit the crypto sector ahead of the election.
Trump began accepting donations in crypto and saw a large influx of donations.
Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss each donated $1 million, an amount that ended up being over the limit, to Trump.
"Over the past few years, the Biden Administration has openly declared war against crypto. It has weaponized multiple government agencies to bully, harass, and sue the good actors in our industry in an effort to destroy it," Tyler Winklevoss tweeted.
Buterin's argument appears to go against Winklevoss supporting a person who says they're pro-crypto while the other candidate is viewed as bad for the space.
"I am not going to stand by idly and let them. I'm going to continue fighting for what I know to be so right. President Donald J. Trump is the pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business choice," Winklevoss added.
Winklevoss also rallied for support from the "crypto army to send a message to Washington."
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood predicted to Benzinga that cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin would become a key topic for the 2024 election.
"This is an election year issue," Wood told Benzinga.
Wood said she knows some young people who have switched their political allegiance based on politicians like Sen. Elizabeth Warren leading an anti-cryptocurrency push.
"You can't be on the wrong side of young people and win an election,” Wood said.
For years, some voters have selected their candidates in elections based on a single issue like the economy, international relations, immigration, abortion or something else. Buterin argues that cryptocurrency support shouldn't be a single issue voting item for anyone in the 2024 election.
Read Next:
Image: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
