final event of this program America loves crypto A tour took place in Washington, DC yesterday as the country counts down to the 2024 elections. Speakers including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin, and Congressman Willie Nickel (D-NC) addressed a maximum capacity crowd at the Black Cat music venue.
Speakers broadly agreed on one idea: the importance of supporting cryptocurrencies in the US through a coordinated bipartisan effort.
In their joint podium speech, Brian Armstrong and Congressman Nickel said they consider it important to maintain and promote cryptocurrency innovation in the US.
This importance, especially for Nickell, is not just based on faith in the technology, but is apparently due to the fact that 20% of US adults own some form of cryptocurrency, a voting bloc that Nickell believes “will be a powerful force to reckon with.”[has] The ability to influence elections.”
Nickel said: “If we want to get something done in Washington, it’s absolutely vital that we do it in a bipartisan way. If we politicize this issue by having one party go into crypto while the other party goes into crypto, that’s going to poison Washington for a decade.”
Since Biden took office in 2020, his administration’s SEC, DoJ, and DoE (Department of Energy) officials have presented largely unwanted regulatory hurdles. In particular, Nickel’s support of cryptocurrencies marks a shift for the historically hostile Democratic Party.
“I started coming to DC five years ago and when I first got here, most people had no idea what crypto was,” Armstrong said. “I had a member of Congress ask me: ‘Isn’t this all some video game or something?’ Once they found out what crypto was, the conversation completely changed. Now, everyone knows what crypto is, we’re kind of the belle of the ball, it’s the buzz on everyone’s lips.”
However, an executive at a major financial institution, who wished to remain anonymous, reflected on the growth of crypto-politics and also highlighted the lack of commitment on the part of the Democratic Party.
Specifically, the executive believes that the Biden administration’s Veto on legislation overturning SAB 121If signed, it would have allowed highly regulated financial institutions to oversee digital assets, which was a major caveat.
He remarked that despite the large amounts of money raised for campaign contributions, the crypto industry still carries a strong stigma and policymakers do not give this single-issue voter group the respect it deserves.
The America Loves Crypto Tour focused on addressing stigma with a mix of live music and grassroots community building. Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, also known as The Chainsmokers, closed out the event by entertaining the crowd with their classic hits, unreleased music, and most notably, a chant of “F$*# Gary Gessner.” The Chainsmokers themselves are no strangers to cryptocurrencies and have founded a tech and crypto-focused company. Mantis Venture Capital Nidhi in 2020.
With stops in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, many attendees of the America Loves Crypto tour expected over 1.4 million crypto users to purchase crypto. Stand with crypto Advocates nationwide could flex their muscles as a true deciding factor in November.
