One of crypto’s most influential voices has warned the industry to refrain from voting political candidates based solely on their digital asset policies. In a blog published Wednesday, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin argues that electing candidates simply for being crypto “friendly” could hurt the industry more in the long-run. Considering whether candidates are ideologically at-odds with what crypto stands for, is more important than if they endorse the right to trade coins in the here and now, he argues.
“If you care about freedom, you might want the government to respect your freedom to have the kind of family you want. If you care about building more efficient and equitable economies, you might want to look at the implications of that in housing,” he continues. Buterin added that losing site of these bigger questions could lead crypto voters to lose sight of the ideals that “originally created crypto in the first place.”
In his view, crypto payments are just one iteration of the decentralization movement’s larger ideological goal of freedom, and a party’s commitment to protecting this goal is what should be on the ballot. “Decentralized networks are good at protecting freedom, and money is an important sphere where such networks can be applied – but it’s one important sphere among several,” he writes.
Against choosing your political allegiances based on who is “pro-crypto”https://t.co/rEbRjZYtFB
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 17, 2024
Trump, who has committed to be the “crypto president,” will speak at Bitcoin 2024 next week, an annual conference that also serves as a tribal gathering for fans of the original cryptocurrency. Details of what he will discuss have not been disclosed. David Bailey, CEO, BTC Inc., the organizer of the Bitcoin Conference, told Fortune in a statement that Trump will “share his vision for the future of the American Bitcoin industry and its impact on the U.S. economy.”
In his blog post, Buterin also listed examples of technologies that should also be protected in the name of freedom, beyond just crypto and blockchains. This includes encrypted messaging, privacy from centralized AI companies, and prediction markets and Community Notes that he argues help people form “high-quality opinions about important topics in an adversarial environment.”
Buterin’s appeal to higher ideals, however, was quickly met with suggestions he was ignoring political reality.
“Much of this seems too clever by half. Good crypto policy requires electing pro-crypto candidates, period. Political reality beats idealism every time,” responded prominent crypto layer Jake Chervinsky on X. Another users added, “The underlying goal has to be mass adoption, which requires good policy. The tech is inherently democratic.”
‘Sorry mum’
Buterin’s blog comes just one day after Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, co-founders of tech venture capital firm a16z, announced their endorsement of Donald Trump on a podcast. “For little tech, we think Donald Trump is actually the right choice. Sorry mum, I know you’re going to be mad at me for this, but we had to do it,” Horowitz said. On that same podcast, Andreessen expressed his fears over how the Democrats might regulate Silicon Valley: “My big concern is what we saw in crypto was the foreshadowing of what’s gonna happen in AI.”
The a16z founders aren’t the first prominent members of the industry to make their support for Trump public.
“I am going to vote for the person who’s going to do the best job for our economy…I am a voter when it comes to economics, and on that basis, Trump.” ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said during an interview with YouTuber Kevin Paffrath last month.
In addition, this week it was reported that Tesla CEO and meme coin enthusiast Elon Musk is donating $45 million per month to a new pro-Trump super political action committee, called America PAC. Further donors to the lobbying group include the Winklevoss twins, who founded crypto exchange Gemini, and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Kelly Craft, who has lobbied on behalf of the Bitcoin mining industry.
Prominent crypto figures turning to Trump is also indicative of a wider shift. A June survey by Paradigm found that 13% of Republican swing voters are now more convinced to vote for him in light of his recent crypto conversion. Moreover, just over one third of Republicans view crypto positively, the survey found.
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