As the cryptocurrency industry gains prominence in politics, candidates’ positions on cryptocurrencies matter when voting. Recently, industry critic Congressman Jamaal Bowman lost the Democratic primary for Modern York’s 16th District to George Latimer. Rep. Bowman’s campaign was opposed by the crypto Super Political Action Committee (PAC) Fairshake.
Anti-cryptography candidate loses Democratic primary
June 25 Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terret reported that US Congress member Jamaal Bowman lost the Democratic primary in Modern York. Seemingly, Bowman’s stance on cryptocurrencies played a key factor in his re-election bid.
The Democratic representative is classified as “strongly opposed” to the industry, according to the nonprofit Stand with Crypto (SWC). Bowman has been outspoken about his opposition to the sector, voting against three pro-industry Republican bills in the past month, including HR 4763 and HR 5403.
H.R. 476, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), aims to provide a modern regulatory framework for the industry. H.R. 5403, the CBDC Anti-Government Surveillance Act, aims to prevent federal banks from “offering certain products or services directly to an individual, prohibiting the use of central bank digital currency for monetary policy purposes, and other purposes.”
Representative Bowman's stance on the industry. Source: SWC
US senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren supported Bowman’s re-election campaign. However, Super PACs like Fairshake opposed the representative’s rally, spending more than $2 million on ads against his campaign.
Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for Fairshake, confirmed the Super PAC’s efforts to support industry-friendly candidates:
Jamaal Bowman fought against establishing clear rules for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, and tonight he will be looking for a modern job. The cryptocurrency and blockchain community will continue to support candidates who believe in innovation and job creation, and will reach out to all parties to get things done.
However, the winning candidate in the Modern York Democratic primary, George Latimer, has not issued any statement about the industry. SWC has a “pending stance” tag on the Latimer platform.
A changing landscape
With the US presidential election approaching, a candidate’s stance on the industry appears to play a key role for cryptocurrency voters. Public figures, politicians and industry leaders have expressed concern about unclear regulations and unnecessarily aggressive repression of the sector.
As a result, the community has redoubled its efforts to support pro-industry candidates. SWC recently launched a PAC to raise money for a bipartisan slate of candidates running for U.S. Congress and to place those who support cryptocurrencies and blockchain in office.
During the interview, Cathie Woods, CEO of ARK Invest, he stated that her vote will go to the candidate who will be best for the US economy. Her stance seemingly supported self-proclaimed “crypto-president” Trump, but the clip has since been taken down due to a “lack of nuance” in portraying Wood’s political views.
I will vote for the person who will best influence our economy. I am a voter when it comes to the economy, and I choose Trump on that basis.
Mark Cuban claimed that Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler may have cost President Biden’s re-election. Cuban believes that the chairwoman’s aggressive approach could have negatively impacted Biden’s campaign and Gensler’s political aspirations.
Ultimately, the community, for some, welcomed the recent policy changes as a victory for the industry affirmatively that he “feels that cryptocurrencies are on the offensive for once.”
Bitcoin is trading at $61,746 in the weekly chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
