Regulation
President Joe Biden needs to lean into cryptocurrency
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Tether, Solana, etc., etc., etc.
However, if you count them, they are the coin of the realm for the campaigns of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. That could be a big deal in this election year.
There is no doubt that this historic contest will be close and both sides believe that a wrong outcome could have catastrophic consequences. How do an octogenarian and a seventy-seven year old connect with young voters and gain an edge? Tapping into the thoughts and dreams of young voters and addressing their issues.
Cryptocurrency is important, but it’s thorny territory.
For years, the Biden administration has been slow to regulate cryptocurrencies. Officials can’t decide which federal agency should regulate the digital currency. So far, some prosecutions and small reforms have been the order of the day. There is much disagreement about how to approach regulation, making it difficult to build consensus. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies continue to thrive, with most of the growth coming overseas and outside the purview of American regulators.
Yet American speculators and investors are focusing on cryptocurrencies. As of last week, the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed to 68,316.64 per coin, up 143.8% from a year ago.
Everyone would agree that there should be safeguards for bitcoin trading and that investors’ funds should be monitored and protected. Bitcoin will help fuel the next generation of American investors and their wealth. Nearly 20% of Americans say they have purchased cryptocurrencies, according to a recent online survey of 1,000 registered voters. That includes 19% of self-identified Democrats and 18% of Republicans, according to the survey conducted for cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm by Public Opinion Strategies from Feb. 28 to March 4. Cryptocurrency ownership is even higher among younger voters. For example, 41% of men aged 18 to 34 said they had purchased cryptocurrencies.
Children love it. The presidential race could heat up. Young voters could make a difference.
Biden’s campaign has been reaching out to them for months, on issues like student debt relief and reproductive choice. Biden implemented a massive social media strategy within the White House and on the campaign trail. Messaging may not work. Trump is gaining ground on Biden among young voters, a Harvard youth survey released last month shows. Among people aged 18 to 29, Biden leads Trump 45% to 37% (16% said they were undecided). That’s a margin of 8 percentage points, compared to where young voters stood at this point in the 2020 presidential campaign, when Biden beat Trump by 23 percentage points.
Biden must lean on cryptocurrencies. Young people were the first and most enthusiastic to adopt the alternative currency. Polls show that young voters are worried about the economy and their financial future. They see cryptocurrencies as a golden opportunity to move forward.
Trump has an advantage.
“Cryptocurrencies are Trump’s new weapon against Biden,” he told recent Politico headline. “This is the first time cryptocurrencies have become an issue in the general election of a presidential race.” Trump is going all-in on currency and is even producing his own “fungible token, or NFT,” a form of digital currency, Politico noted last month.
Trump touted his support for the currency during a meeting of cryptocurrency supporters held May 8 at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He attacked the Biden administration for its push to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and demanded that cryptocurrency advocates have “a better vote” for him, because, he urged, “they are against it.”
“The GOP has become increasingly friendly toward bitcoin and other digital assets in recent years, while top Democrats remain at odds over whether to ensure the sector’s legitimacy after a series of scandals,” Politico reported.
Trump’s cheerleader is getting noticed. The former president is even getting closer to Elon Musk, the billionaire cryptocurrency enthusiast. Moss is popular among young people. It is a strategy designed to steal young voters from the Democratic column.
“President Trump’s remarks signal a sea change in the importance of digital assets in this election cycle,” Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, one of the cryptocurrency industry’s leading lobbying groups, told Politico.
When it comes to courting young voters, Biden and the Democrats can’t afford to let this opportunity be swept away.
Laura Washington is a longtime Chicago political commentator and journalist. Her columns appear every Monday in the Tribune. Write to her LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.
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