The Status and Prospects of Bitcoin in American Politics

Recently, the 2024 Bitcoin conference welcomed a heavyweight guest. At the conference, this guest expressed great support for Bitcoin, stating that the market value of Bitcoin would surpass that of gold, and promised to replace the SEC chairman who is unfriendly to cryptocurrencies after being elected, while keeping the government's holdings of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, among other things. These remarks sparked enthusiastic responses on site.

With issues such as ETFs, SEC regulation, interest rate policies, and the upcoming elections all focusing on the United States, the U.S. has become the dominant force in the crypto market, almost holding the "pricing power" of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The upcoming U.S. elections have a profound impact on the crypto market, and thus the crypto community has been closely monitoring the election dynamics.

Regarding this politician's frequent gestures of goodwill towards crypto assets, some believe it is a positive signal, while others think it is merely a tactic to secure votes. To analyze the credibility of these statements, we need to start with the claims and values of the two major camps: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

The Alignment of the Republican Party with Bitcoin Ideals

The core values of the Republican Party include support for free markets, economic policies of personal freedom, and conservative social ideals. The party tends to align with right-wing conservatism, supporting technological innovation, advocating for personal privacy and security, and opposing excessive centralized monetary control and financial regulation. Overall, right-wing individuals may be more inclined to support and engage in technological innovation and market freedom.

The core idea of Bitcoin returning financial power to individuals fully aligns with the Republican values of personal freedom and market freedom. At the same time, Bitcoin, as an emerging technology and investment opportunity, is even more favored and supported by them.

This can also be seen in a tech entrepreneur who supports the value concept of Bitcoin. In a recent interview, he stated that he is a worshipper of American values, having previously supported the Democratic Party, but now supports the Republican Party, simply looking for which party aligns more with his vision of American values. Currently, the Republican Party aligns more with the fundamental principles of America that he admires, such as personal freedom, so he now supports the Republican Party.

Of course, the commitments of politicians at the Bitcoin conference may be discounted. After all, the current goal is more about garnering votes, and once in office, they will need to weigh various interests, making the implementation of new policies inevitably controversial.

The lackluster reaction of the Bitcoin market to this speech shows that investors are well aware that they cannot just listen to the words, but must also pay attention to the actions.

The Democratic Party's Attitude Towards Bitcoin

As the dominant force in the current U.S. government, we have witnessed the Democratic Party's attitude in recent years. Although their stance has softened as the election approaches, it seems that Democratic leaders, including the current president, the SEC chair, and the current presidential candidates, are not very fond of Bitcoin.

This is also a matter of values. Democrats clearly hold a left-leaning position and policy advocacy, with some even criticizing them as "far-left". The Democratic Party's advocacy includes a focus on environmental impact and sustainability, financial fairness and social justice, increased regulation, among others, reflecting their values that downplay individual freedom and power, while emphasizing public and collective interests.

Clearly, under this left-leaning value system, the core concept of Bitcoin is not so harmonious, so the left-leaning Democratic Party, including the current president and vice president, does not actually favor Bitcoin that much.

The Wheel of History Rolls Forward

Despite the differences between the two parties, whoever is elected cannot stop the progress of history.

First of all, there are quite a few supporters within the Democratic Party. Although the Democratic Party as a whole leans left, not everyone is "far left". Most people are still rational and will address issues as they arise. Previously, the Democratic Party has clearly stated that they will align with moderates on issues of market and financial regulation, moving away from the far left.

In a recent vote on a bill banning unfriendly cryptocurrency accounting policies, the Republican-led House passed it with a vote of 228-182, and the Democrat-led Senate approved the resolution with a vote of 60 to 38. Although it was ultimately vetoed by the President, it indicates that there is also a considerable portion of the Democratic Party that supports Bitcoin. It is believed that with the internationalization and mainstreaming of crypto assets, more progress will be made in the future.

Secondly, the core values of the United States are also at play. For years, people have viewed Bitcoin as one of the main challengers to the hegemony of the US dollar, and the US should block it. However, this is not the case, and it is not only due to the anti-fragility of Bitcoin itself, but also because it is difficult for Americans to go against the core values of the United States.

In American history, there was a ban on individual ownership of gold, but this ban was considered a violation of the principles of personal freedom and seen as an infringement on individual liberty and property rights. The repeal of the ban in 1974 was viewed as a restoration of economic freedom and individual rights. Although the ban played a certain role in addressing the Great Depression, in the long run, it is seen by most as a failed policy because it restricted personal freedom and failed to fundamentally address economic issues.

Now, Americans are well aware that it is difficult to prohibit private ownership of Bitcoin like they did with private ownership of gold in the past. First, there is the failed precedent, and second, Bitcoin is just a string of characters compared to physical gold, making it impossible to enforce by spying on the personal privacy of every American.

If Americans do not even have the power to hold a string of characters in Bitcoin, which is based on the core ideas of freedom and individual power, then they might as well overthrow the Statue of Liberty first. In fact, no matter how much disagreement there is between the Democratic and Republican parties, no one is likely to stand up and overthrow the Statue of Liberty, which symbolizes freedom, democracy, and the American dream. These core values can be said to be the foundation of the United States.

Conclusion

In the debate, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have also gained fertile ground and are spiraling upward. Regardless of who is ultimately elected, it cannot change the historical momentum; Bitcoin has only a thin layer of window paper left to become a reserve asset.