Brian Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of Coinbase, said: Victor J. Blue—Bloomberg/Getty Images
It's Super Tuesday here in the United States, and voters are heading to the polls to make their voices heard on the burning issues of the day, including the economy, abortion, and cryptocurrency regulation. I don't know about that last one, but if you were on Hollywood Boulevard on a Monday afternoon, there were probably a lot of people there, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and rap legend Nas. Cryptocurrency voters would have sworn yes. This is a force to watch this election season.
Similar to an old-fashioned political rally, the touring campaign known as Stand With Crypto brought boosters together in the Bourbon Room. The atmosphere felt much cooler than the crypto enthusiasts that gathered there (minus Nas, of course). .Outside, organizers arranged for a line to spread around the block and a truck for the display. fake movie ad It portrays anti-cryptocurrency Senate candidate Katie Porter as a villain in power. As far as spectacle goes, it's a well-orchestrated one and shows that the crypto lobby, powered by a war chest of more than $85 million, intends to take a tough stance in this year's elections.
Within the club, Mr. Armstrong said that despite Coinbase's estimates that the number of crypto holders is five times more than EV holders and 3.5 times more than union card holders, politicians He complained that people still don't want to take the industry seriously. He and others on stage asked rally-style questions (“How many of you own cryptocurrencies? Do you think people should have more control over their money?”) and They drew cheers by shouting about the importance of making your vote count. The whole thing felt a little forced, but it had the look and feel of a political rally.
This raises the question of what exactly the organizers want to achieve with all this. My colleague Leo, who attended the East Coast version of the same event in Boston last month, suggested that the whole concept of “crypto voters” is a pipe dream. For the most part, I share his skepticism. I know many crypto holders and I suspect most of them will vote based on taxes, immigration, Israel/Gaza, etc. In this context, it is unlikely that the candidates' positions on the legal status of Ethereum or XRP would be a deal breaker.
I mentioned this to Coinbase's head of policy, Faryal Shirzad, who told me that the company's polling had shown such results. teeth He noted that about 2,000 crypto voters have announced their participation at the Hollywood event, and more than 275,000 people have signed on to the Stand With Crypto campaign. Cryptocurrency is at an “inflection point,” he said, and while voters may not budge when it comes to voting for president, some may be willing to split the ticket to elect a pro-crypto candidate in Congress. he added.
That's not crazy to me. Also, the crypto community is young and highly online, and while it may be checked when it comes to traditional politics, it could be persuaded to vote if it believes Bitcoin is under threat. It's also worth noting that they are the kind of people who are. And with low turnout in primaries like Tuesday's, a minority of crypto voters could theoretically make a difference.
More broadly, for now, we have no idea whether Stand With Crypto will make a big difference or just a sweet job for lobbyists. The only thing I can say for sure is that the crypto industry, for better or worse, has finally learned how to play in the political big leagues.
jeff john roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
decentralized news
micro strategyCEO said the company will issue $600 million in convertible debt to further increase its holdings of 193,000 Bitcoins. (bloomberg)
price of coinbase The stock has nearly doubled in the past 30 days, reaching $236 on Monday despite a series of technical glitches on the site. (luck)
We saw a resurgence of the bull market. USDT on Tether For the first time, a stablecoin has surpassed $100 billion in market capitalization. (coin desk)
black rockFidelity's Bitcoin ETF grew to $10 billion in assets on Monday, the fastest time ever for an ETF to reach that milestone, and Fidelity's Bitcoin ETF ballooned to $6 billion. (WSJ)
of I.R.S.is strengthening its cryptocurrency law enforcement capabilities and will reportedly launch a “title wave” of investigations. (CNBC)
meme-o-the-moment
Currently playing: Krypto vs. Katie Porter
