The Future of Bitcoin in America Will Be Decided at the Ballot Box

As Americans head to the polls this fall, their decision regarding who will lead our country will also determine the fate of crypto here in the United States, and our security, prosperity, and freedom are at stake.

This week, I will join President Trump and thousands of crypto market participants in Nashville for Bitcoin 2024, the world’s largest Bitcoin conference. This year, the conference is held in my home state at a time that is clearly the tipping point for the future of crypto technology in the U.S. This fall, the future of crypto in America is on the ballot as our nation decides who will lead the Executive and Legislative branches of our nation. The contrast between Democrat and Republican approaches to crypto is stark. The Biden Administration has repeatedly demonstrated its hostility to crypto by refusing to provide a basic regulatory framework for the industry, while simultaneously taking enforcement actions against firms for allegedly violating nonexistent rules. This combination of legal uncertainty and brass-knuckled enforcement has pushed many crypto innovators to the brink, leaving them little choice but to move their businesses overseas.

Meanwhile, Democrats have also taken extreme measures to stifle the adoption of crypto in the traditional financial system. Biden’s regulators have forced crypto-engaged banks like Signature Bank into receivership while imposing crypto-hostile policies like the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, which makes it prohibitively expensive for financial institutions to hold customers’ crypto assets. Altogether, the Biden Administration’s record makes clear what another four years of Democrat political control would bring: more political persecution of the industry on a scale reminiscent of Obama’s Operation Chokepoint.

In contrast, Republicans have taken concrete steps to develop constructive crypto policies that exemplify the party’s longstanding commitment to the principles of innovation, free enterprise, and individual liberty. House Republicans have passed promising bills that would provide legislative clarity for crypto market structure and for U.S.-Dollar-denominated private stablecoins. Republicans in both chambers have worked together to try to overturn Biden’s most egregious policies, address concerns about illicit finance, promote private-sector innovation in stablecoins, and prevent the development of a central bank digital currency. Republican control of Congress and the White House would enable the GOP to expand and implement these efforts, finally delivering constructive rules of the road for crypto and ending Biden’s oppressive regime of regulation by enforcement.

If Republicans don’t stop Democrats from trying to crush crypto in America, the consequences could be dire. Four more years of hostility will force even more crypto innovators offshore. Prominent U.S. exchanges have already started opening businesses in other countries, seeking licenses in foreign jurisdictions, and shuttering their U.S. operations. In recent years, lawmakers in Washington have realized how allowing another critical industry—semiconductors—to go offshore has weakened our nation’s competitive edge and geopolitical leverage. We would be foolish to allow crypto—this generation’s new cutting-edge technology—to follow the samCryptoe path. Republicans understand that keeping innovation onshore is essential for our global competitiveness and for the creation of wealth and jobs for Americans.

All too often, voters dismayed with Washington’s dysfunction feel that their vote—and national politics more broadly—does not matter. That’s not true here. No matter how much the status quo may frustrate us, the truth is that elections offer us the best opportunity to change course and get our country’s policies back on track. In the case of crypto, the vote at the ballot box this year could quite literally decide its fate. This November, Americans must make their voices heard and send their elected representatives to Washington with a mandate: secure a future for crypto in America.

This is a guest post by Senator Bill Hagerty. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.