With President Biden stepping aside, the Democratic Party has a huge opportunity to win back a big share of the crypto vote.
This should be top priority for the new nominee in an election that will be won on the margins in states where crypto is a live issue.
Here’s why:
It's clear that crypto will play a major role in this election. Recent swing state polling shows that 1 in 5 registered voters view crypto as a major issue, and nearly 1 in 2 agree that they "don't trust candidates that interfere with crypto." Like it or not, thousands of crypto supporters are "single-issue voters" who could tip this election in states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.
As of this morning, President Biden was set to lose that voting bloc, and badly. For years, the Biden administration has been extremely hostile toward crypto, refusing to craft reasonable regulations tailored to the technology and instead trying to destroy the industry through a campaign of regulation by enforcement.
Recognizing Biden's electoral weakness on crypto, Former President Trump has spent months aggressively courting voters with a promise to "end Joe Biden's war on crypto." His efforts have been a huge success, rallying many crypto voters and donors to the right.
But crypto has never been a partisan issue, and it shouldn't be one today. Despite the Biden administration's hostility, there are still many Democrats who recognize crypto's potential and want it to thrive here at home—along with all the jobs and tax revenue it creates. Just look at the dozens of Congressional Democrats who voted to repeal SAB121 and pass FIT21 this year, or listen to their cogent arguments in favor of the liberal case for crypto, and you'll see that there's a massive opportunity on the left.
Most importantly, a huge number of crypto supporters identify as Democrats or left-leaning independents who aren't single-issue voters. Many of them don't want to support the Republican Party due to other issues like abortion rights, but also can't stomach another four years of catastrophic crypto policy like we've had under Biden. For those working in the crypto, the choice between Biden and Trump was stark: vote for your principles or your livelihood.
Now there's a chance for a reset. A new Democratic nominee can flip the script and win back a meaningful number of crypto voters. To be sure, a good portion were Republicans from the start, and after years of Biden, many more are lost to the Democrats for good. But if the Democratic Party is serious about winning this election, the new nominee must seize this opportunity.
Here's how:
The new nominee must quickly and emphatically reassure crypto voters that it's safe for them to vote blue in November. Here are five recommendations that would go a long way toward that goal:
1) Recognize crypto as an important technology and industry for American economic and geopolitical strength, and declare a commitment to ensuring that crypto flourishes here in the United States.
2) Acknowledge the failure of the SEC’s enforcement-first approach, the impropriety of subjecting crypto to decades-old laws designed for the analog era, and the need for tailored regulations that are fit for purpose.
3) Outline a policy platform that balances crypto innovation with consumer protection, even if high-level, to show a genuine understanding of the technology and a good-faith effort to start a productive discussion.
4) Publish a list of potential appointees to lead the federal agencies that matter most to crypto, such as the SEC and CFTC, to show that crypto policy will no longer be set by members of an "anti-crypto army."
5) Reach out directly to key stakeholders in the crypto industry—entrepreneurs, investors, policy advocates, and more—to begin the hard work of developing good policy in the spirit of collaboration.
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I'm sure many people will decry this post, declaring the Democrats hopeless and the GOP the official party of crypto forevermore.
I don't agree, and neither do the many people I know in crypto who have struggled for years to reconcile their life's work with their lifelong Democratic leanings.
I believe the Democrats have a huge opportunity, but only the new nominee can decide whether to take it.