This article is featured in Bitcoin Magazine’s “The Primary Issue”. Click here to get your Annual Bitcoin Magazine Subscription.
Introduction
Until this election cycle, Bitcoin has flown under the radar when it comes to the national political stage. For the first time in its history, Bitcoin is becoming a prominent issue for presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle. While there’s been some mention of Bitcoin from the previous president as well as Bitcoin-related policies made by the current one, this election is shaping up to be Bitcoin’s time in the spotlight.
At this stage in the race, there are a multitude of presidential candidates, each with their own stance on Bitcoin’s place in the national conversation. We have taken the opportunity to reach out to these candidates to hear directly from the horse’s mouth. For those who didn’t respond, and even some/those who did, we’ve used previous quotes to assess where they stand on our beloved orange coin. The following is Bitcoin Magazine’s official Bitcoin scorecard for the 2024 presidential candidates.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Independent
Born January 17, 1954
Previous Political Office/Experience: No Previous Office Held
Notable Bitcoin Comments:
“Backing dollars and U.S. debt obligations with hard assets could help restore strength back to the dollar, rein in inflation and usher in a new era of American financial stability, peace and prosperity.”
“I began to understand that freedom of transaction is as important as freedom of speech. And that Bitcoin is this. I can also see the trajectory toward central bank digital currencies, and the power that will give nations this ultimate power over whether we live or die. And I understood that we need a currency that is a freedom currency — a currency that is independent and that can't be controlled by the government.”
Notable Bitcoin Legislation:
Speaking at a Heal-the-Divide PAC event, Kennedy outlined specific Bitcoin-focused policies that he would enact as president, including gradually backing the U.S. dollar with bitcoin and making bitcoin profits exempt from capital gains taxes. “My plan would be to start very, very small, perhaps 1% of issued T-bills would be backed by hard currency, by gold, silver platinum or bitcoin,” Kennedy said, describing his vision for returning to a hard currency standard in the U.S. He added that, depending on the outcome of that initial step, he would increase that allocation annually.
Brief Editorial/Opinion:
Kennedy is the new standard for Bitcoin candidates moving forward. Due in large part to his articulate and thorough positions detailing how his presidency would integrate Bitcoin, Kennedy has separated himself from the pack with a bold vision for America and its monetary policy. This doesn’t feel like just another politician incorporating Bitcoin for clout or to fill donation coffers; this feels like a full-fledged, legislative assault on the many economic issues facing the country today. That said, while his recent announcement to run as an independent has come as no surprise, his removal of campaign manager Dennis Kucinich for his daughter-in-law and former CIA agent Amaryllis Hope Fox certainly did.
Bitcoin Magazine Candidate Grade: B+
Joe Biden
Democratic Party
Born November 20, 1942
Previous Political Office/Experience: 46th President of the United States since 2021, 47th Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, United States Senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009, Member of the New Castle County Council from the 4th District from 1971 to 1973.
Notable Bitcoin Comments:
“Advances in digital and distributed ledger technology for financial services have led to dramatic growth in markets for digital assets, with profound implications for the protection of consumers, investors, and businesses, including data privacy and security; financial stability and systemic risk; crime; national security; the ability to exercise human rights; financial inclusion and equity; and energy demand and climate change.”
“With respect to digital assets, my Administration will seek to ensure that our core democratic values are respected; consumers, investors, and businesses are protected; appropriate global financial system connectivity and platform and architecture interoperability are preserved; and the safety and soundness of the global financial system and international monetary system are maintained.”
“Growth in decentralized financial ecosystems, peer-to-peer payment activity, and obscured blockchain ledgers without controls to mitigate illicit finance could also present additional market and national security risks in the future.”
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Notable Bitcoin Legislation: (if applicable)
Brief Editorial/Opinion: As head of the executive branch during Operation Choke Point 2.0, in which five (and counting) U.S. banks failed, Biden oversaw the launch of FedNow and continually has painted bitcoin as a money for criminals that contributes greatly to the climate crisis. To put it lightly, Biden’s administration has hardly been an ally to Bitcoin — nevermind its voting bloc — with its cold shoulder legislation being dubbed a “war on bitcoin” by Republican candidate DeSantis. While not as outspoken in his tweets as his former general election opponent President Trump, it is fair to say Biden’s executive orders on the matter seem to tip the scales of jurisdiction over the upcoming battle for Bitcoin in the regulators’ favor. Perhaps the nicest comment we can make is that he hasn’t banned anything — yet, anyway.
Bitcoin Magazine Candidate Grade: D
Donald Trump
Headshot
Republican Party
Born June 14, 1946
Previous Political Office/Experience: 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Notable Bitcoin Comments:
“Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam. I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar... I want the dollar to be the currency of the world. That’s what I’ve always said.”
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity....” https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192?s=20
Notable Bitcoin Legislation: (if applicable):
Brian Brooks OCC Appointment
Allowing bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and stablecoin holdings
Peter Thiel Transition Team Appointment
Mick Mulvaney Appointment
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 to March 2020, and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 to March 2020.
Brief Editorial/Opinion: Don’t let “orange man bad” detract from the legislative good he has done for the orange coin. One could contend that his selection of former Coinbase CLO Brian Brook as Comptroller of the Currency was the single most significant appointment in the history of Bitcoin in the United States. Brooks cleared the door for financial institutions to enter the area by permitting banks to actually retain bitcoin. After the regulation went into effect in the middle of 2020, bitcoin’s price increased 20 times the following year. Despite this positive price action and even his own successful minting of Trump Cards, Trump oversaw Operation Warp Speed, government lockdowns, and excessive monetary inflation with his stimulus bills during his one-term presidency.
Bitcoin Magazine Candidate Grade: C
Vivek Ramaswamy
Republican Party
Born August 9, 1985
Previous Political Office/Experience: No Previous Office Held
Notable Bitcoin Comments:
“The thriving Bitcoin universe should actually better empower me to do what I want to do as the U.S. president, which is to stabilize the U.S. dollar as a unit of measurement and put the Federal Reserve back in its place with that as its single mandate.”
“It is unfair and counterproductive to target Bitcoin miners as different from any other consumer of energy, period…We’ll put that into the rules and preserve freedom to mine by rescinding and committing against any special taxes for the utilization of energy for purposes of mining.”
“I think that bitcoin, for me, for a number of reasons, does not yet meet that commodity basket. I’m a bitcoin fan. I spoke at a bitcoin conference. I want to stabilize the dollar against agriculture and farm commodities, gold, silver and nickel. And there could be a point in time when bitcoin becomes part of that commodity basket. There’s some technical reasons why I would not include that today.”
“I would give strong consideration to even thinking unconventionally, even someone like RFK Jr., for example, who is running for the Democratic nomination. I think we live in a moment where we can unite this country. Ronald Reagan did it in 1980, winning in a landslide election. I think there’s an opportunity to win in a landslide election in 2024, and I think that’s the single-most uniting thing we could deliver in our politics, and that’s the way I’m going to be thinking.”
“I will shut down the fourth branch of government, the administrative state. You cannot tame that beast. You must end it.”
Notable Bitcoin Legislation: (if applicable)
If elected, Ramaswamy promises to unilaterally end Civil Service protections by executive order, imposing eight-year term restrictions on federal positions, shuttering the Education Department, and replacing the FBI, the IRS, and other agencies. “Those elected to government should actually run the Government.”
Brief Editorial/Opinion:
Ramaswamy allegedly paid to change the Wikipedia page about him, according to a disclosure on the collaborative encyclopedia. The changes include deleting the fact that Ramaswamy received the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans in 2011 and Ramaswamy’s role in the Ohio Covid-19 Response Team.
Bitcoin Magazine Candidate Grade: B+
Ron DeSantis
Republican Party
Born September 14, 1978
Previous Political Office/Experience: 46th Governor of Florida from 2019, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida’s 6th District from 2013-2018
Notable Bitcoin Comments:
“As president, we’ll protect the ability to do things like bitcoin. I just do not have an itch to have to control everything that people may be doing in this space, and I think the current regime, clearly, they have it out for bitcoin, and if it continues for another four years, they’ll probably end up killing it.”
“We are going to let Americans invest in things like Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Biden’s war on Bitcoin currency will come to an end when I become president.”
“As president, on day one, CBDC goes into the trash can — we’re not going to allow it.”
Notable Bitcoin Legislation: (if applicable)
CS/HB 273 - Money Service Businesses
May 12 2022 Bill Defining Virtual Currency And Enabling License-Free Trading
SB 7054: Central Bank Digital Currency
March 31 2023 Bill Banning CBDC in Florida
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Brief Editorial/Opinion: DeSantis, as Governor over Florida during government lockdowns, was relatively quick on the ball — certainly when compared to most governors of high population states — for pushing back against federal overreach in order to keep his state open. Certainly no stranger to media controversy with his generally right-leaning governing style, DeSantis has used his platform to push Bitcoin-friendly state policies, including upholding the right to transact bitcoin without a transmitter license. His budget proposal in 2022 even included bitcoin-funding for state programs, and has announced infrastructure for Florida to accept business tax payments in bitcoin. His disrespect of the federal digital dollar, in both clever signage and policy, is certainly admirable. However, he notably did vote Yea in the House vote to extend The Patriot Act (USA FREEDOM Act of 2015).
Bitcoin Magazine Candidate Grade: B
Mike Pence
(UPDATE: Mike Pence withdrew from the race on October 28th, 2023)
Republican Party
Born June 7, 1959
Previous Political Office/Experience: Vice President to the 45th president Donald J. Trump
Notable Bitcoin Comments:
While having not made any direct comments on Bitcoin itself, his former chief economist Mark Calabria had this to say back in 2015 when asked about his concerns on Bitcoin regulation:
“I don’t think the Bitcoin community should be complacent about the current regulatory environment. The potential to get a lot worse is definitely there.”
Notable Bitcoin Legislation: (if applicable):
Brian Brooks OCC Appointment
Allowing bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and stablecoin holdings
Peter Thiel Transition Team Appointment
Mick Mulvaney Appointment
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 to March 2020, and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 to March 2020.
Brief Editorial/Opinion: Much like his presidential partner, a few tweets notwithstanding, Pence solely displays his Bitcoin position in the shadows. The former vice president to Donald Trump, Pence was silent on Bitcoin even as his commander-in-chief took to social media, at times to blast Bitcoin during his four years in office. Still, his stance is that it will not replace or rival his favored money, the U.S. dollar. That said, Pence has in the past shown a willingness to work with public Bitcoin proponents. His former chief economist, Mark Calabria, was a member of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, and a public Bitcoin advocate. Further, his nephew, John Pence, a senior advisor for the Trump-Pence campaign from 2016-2020, has worked for crypto exchange Binance.
Bitcoin Magazine Candidate Grade: C
This article is featured in Bitcoin Magazine’s “The Primary Issue”. Click here to get your Annual Bitcoin Magazine Subscription.