Like relatives at a holiday dinner gone awry, crypto boosters can’t stop talking about politics.
What happened: The U.S. presidential race dominated Saturday’s Bitcoin 2024 conference, where Donald Trump promised to fire Gary Gensler, the Securities and Exchange Commission chair perceived by many crypto devotees to be hostile to the sector.
- Trump also promised to create a “national Bitcoin stockpile” and accused the Biden administration of waging a “crusade” against crypto.
Meanwhile, crypto honcho Tyler Winklevoss — you may remember him as one of the twins from The Social Network — raged over Kamala Harris’ absence at the event, warning the crypto industry would “show no mercy in November.”
- That comes after both Winklevoss twins joined with a number of other tech and crypto leaders to make hefty donations backing the Trump campaign.
Why it matters: Crypto is quickly becoming a political football, with some of its highest-profile leaders wading into the presidential campaign and partisans of both sides hunting for votes (and donations) among supporters and critics.
- That could spell trouble for the industry, as it risks making committed enemies of an entire side of the U.S. political divide.
- Aggressive lobbying and politicking is also a departure from the promise of crypto as an apolitical, decentralized technology beyond the reach of governments.
Zoom out: Most mature industries have discovered that, since who is in government changes every few years, it pays to have friends across the political spectrum. Crypto may be about to learn that lesson the hard way.—TS