This US presidential election was the first where cryptocurrencies emerged as a major legal issue, and the industry is pushing for (and bracing for) the possibility that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will talk about it when ‘they will confront each other. Thursday debate.
To that end, cryptocurrency advocacy group Stand With Crypto has set up an online letter-writing campaign to convince CNN hosts to make crypto a talking point. A spokeswoman for the group said Wednesday that nearly 2,300 people had signed and sent the notes “calling for a Crypto Question.”
“It would be a huge miss for CNN to take this opportunity to let Americans know where the presidential candidates stand on this important economic issue,” spokesperson Sabrina Siddiqui told CoinDesk. She pointed out that the number of group members in Georgia, where the 9 p.m. EDT (01:00 UTC) event will take place, far exceeds the gap between the contestants in their previous 2020 competition.
The Stand With Crypto form letter concludes: “Giving leading presidential candidates a chance to weigh in on this Transformational Technologies during the first debate would go a long way in educating the electorate and helping America’s Crypto owners cast an informed vote . »
Biden’s record on digital assets is familiar to the industry, which only needs to examine his executive orders, statements from the White House and the actions of the US regulators he has appointed, including at Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States. The Trump administration has not taken any significant action on Crypto, and its past stance of skepticism has only recently transformed into enthusiastic support for the technology.
“It is notable that we are discussing Crypto as a possible topic on the largest stage of presidential politics – and an indicator of the progress the industry is making in communicating its value in the national political debate” , said Kristin Smith, CEO of Blockchain. Association, in a statement sent by email. “The crypto industry – and its growing user base – is eager to have a robust debate among the candidates on their approach to digital assets and feels energized that this has become an important topic at this election.”
Trump has emerged as a strong supporter of crypto mining in the United States and an opponent of the United States issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), seeking to contrast himself with Biden’s efforts to tax miners and his administration’s interest in studying CBDCs.
“We appreciate that the candidates recognize the importance of not only debating how to regulate digital assets, but also how to create responsible regulation that does not stifle innovation in the United States,” said a spokesperson for the DeFi Education Fund.
