Recently, as US Vice President Kamala Harris officially selected her running mate, the US election entered the sprint stage. From the attack on US Republican presidential candidate Trump to the withdrawal of current President Biden from the election, the sudden and changing election situation and the increasingly fierce battle between the donkey and the elephant have added more uncertainty to the election.
However, as the dramatic plots unfold, the decisive force driving the frenetic campaign of the two major parties in the United States is revealing its true colors...
Trump: First he was arrogant, then he was respectful to Bitcoin
U.S. Republican candidate and former President Trump attended the 2024 Bitcoin Conference and delivered a speech on July 27.
At the end of July, the Republican presidential candidate and former president of the United States, Trump, attended the Bitcoin Conference and delivered a speech. The scene was full of flags, but the slogan "Make America Great Again" seemed inconspicuous. All you could see was "Make Bitcoin Great Again".
This scene may allow people to explore the truth behind the US election - money politics.
Trump once had a strong aversion to Bitcoin. In July 2019, Trump said he “doesn’t like” Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He also said that tokens are not money and that their value is “made out of thin air,” and warned that unregulated crypto assets could help facilitate drug trafficking and “other illegal activities.”
Even after losing reelection in 2020, Trump did not change his views. "Bitcoin looks like a scam," Trump said in a telephone interview with Fox in 2021. "I don't like it because it's another currency that competes with the dollar."
But things suddenly changed in 2024.
Trump said at the Bitcoin Conference in late July: “I am developing plans to ensure that the United States becomes the cryptocurrency capital of this planet and the world’s Bitcoin superpower. If cryptocurrency will define the future, I hope it can be mined and minted in the United States.”
So, what exactly caused Trump to make a U-turn on his views on Bitcoin?
Of course it is the power of money.
This force comes from both large political donations from the cryptocurrency industry and constant lobbying by the "bigwigs" in the cryptocurrency industry.
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Union Election Commission that there was no cap on donations from corporations and groups, allowing super PACs to make unlimited donations to campaigns.
In its ruling on McCutcheon and Republican National Committee v. Federal Election Commission on April 2, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the cap on the total amount of individual political campaign contributions by a 5-4 vote.
After that, the US "political donors" can give full play to their financial advantages and select the representatives of their interests. If a politician does not receive support from donors, then his election campaign will be difficult.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders once said: "Some people think that Congress controls Wall Street, but the truth is that Wall Street controls Congress."
Nowadays, in addition to the financial tycoons on Wall Street, the Bitcoin giants in Silicon Valley also control politics.
When they knock on the candidates' doors waving money, who can refuse?
David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine and a big name in the cryptocurrency circle, has personally contacted Trump to lobby Trump to change his opinion on cryptocurrency
Major Silicon Valley political donors, including cryptocurrency investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, hosted a lucrative fundraiser for Trump in June.
Venture capital duo Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz also expressed their support for Trump
It can be said that the cryptocurrency industry used donations to "smash" Trump into changing his perception of cryptocurrency.
Democratic Party - Bowing for the sake of money
The financiers in the cryptocurrency industry, mainly from Silicon Valley in California, have traditionally been considered supporters of the Democratic Party. Why did they collectively turn to the Republican Party and Trump this time?
The cause is the Biden administration’s skepticism towards cryptocurrencies and its relatively strict regulatory policies.
In 2022, the collapse of FTX Trading Company, the world's second largest cryptocurrency platform with a market value of tens of billions of dollars, triggered a crisis in the cryptocurrency industry, countless investors lost their money, and public resentment boiled. In this context, the Biden administration has taken strict regulatory measures on the cryptocurrency industry.
In particular, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Futures Trading Commission under the Biden administration, called the cryptocurrency market a "Wild West," arguing that the industry lacks regulation and harms investor interests.
This series of actions caused a strong backlash in the cryptocurrency industry.
Faced with the prospect of tough regulation from Washington, cryptocurrency companies, executives and investors are pouring more than $120 million into the presidential election in hopes of electing "new friends" in Washington to replace the Biden administration, according to money politics watchdog OpenSecrets.
After feeling the anger of its financial backers, the Biden administration also adjusted its direction.
According to Forbes, in the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act passed in May, Congress split the power to regulate cryptocurrencies, reducing some of the regulations on the industry, and Democrats voted in favor of it.
According to CNBC, someone seemed to have called the Democrats, "Guys, we can't continue to be a party against cryptocurrency."
After Biden dropped out of the election, the current US Vice President Harris, who took over from him to run for the Democratic Party, hurriedly sent representatives to contact the bigwigs in the cryptocurrency industry.
According to the Financial Times, representatives of Harris' campaign have recently contacted cryptocurrency industry giants such as exchanges Coinbase, Circle and blockchain payment group Ripple in an effort to establish good relationships.
A person close to Harris' campaign said the underlying message Harris wants to convey is that the Democratic Party is a party that "values business (development)."
The Democratic and Republican candidates, one once said that cryptocurrencies should be strictly regulated, and the other once associated cryptocurrencies with drug trafficking. However, under the silver bullet offensive, they all "bowed" to the cryptocurrency industry.
An election that will affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people, but the core issue is whether cryptocurrency speculation should be regulated; an election that will be participated by hundreds of millions of voters, but its process is easily controlled and influenced by some cryptocurrency financiers; it claims to "make America great again", but in reality it seems like "make Bitcoin great again."
Cryptocurrency has long been used for underground illegal transactions, which may contribute to such risks. At the same time, people like "Oracle of Omaha" Buffett have said that cryptocurrency has no value and is just a "product that consumes electricity."
Such a product actually influenced the political elections in the United States, causing chaos in the election. It must be said that this is one of the most realistic ironies of "American democracy".
