The largest digitalย currency is suddenly a talking point in the 2024 race, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared he would โprotect theย potential to do things like Bitcoinโ during the launch of his campaign onย Twitterย platform on Wednesday.
Bitcoinย (BTC) has suddenly found itself at the center of campaign trash-talking and chest-thumping ahead of the 2024 Unitedย States presidential election.
Biotech-entrepreneur-turned-Republican-candidate Vivek Ramaswamy informed CoinDesk in an interview that he is the only candidate who understands Bitcoinย (BTC) deeply enough to discuss it intelligently on the presidential debate stage.
His remarks came after fellow hopeful and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday launched his own presidential campaign onย Twitterย platform โ amid a myriad of technical glitches โ and promised to โprotect theย potential to do things like Bitcoin.โ
Ramaswamy reveals even the language DeSantis used outlines a shallow understanding of the worldโs dominant cryptocurrency.
โI understand this stuff in a much more deep and rich way,โ Ramaswamy informed CoinDesk in an interview. โEven the way he stated that, โDo things like bitcoin.โ Andย once we think about the leader we want in the White House, that hasย toย be somebody who understands the โwhy.โโ
Ramaswamy wrote the book โWoke, Inc.: Inside Corporate Americaโs Social Justice Scam,โ which DeSantis is reported to have read. Ramaswamy reveals DeSantis borrowed numerous concepts he originated, including the importance of Bitcoinย (BTC) and the denouncement of monetaryย authority digitalย currencies (CBDCs).
โSince the time I wrote Woke, Inc.,โ Ramaswamy stated, โDeSantis has studied it and he has adopted aย lotย of the proposals as his own, and I think thatโs a good thing. Iโm not sure he has the same understanding of it that I do, be it monetaryย authority digitalย currencies or Bitcoin. Onย theย otherย hand, thatโs okay. Heโs saying the right things.โ
CoinDesk sent an email to the DeSantis campaign asking for a response to Ramaswamyโs comments but had not received a response as of press time.
Longshot versus Trump, DeSantis
Several consider Ramaswamy a longshot in the presidential race. Reportsย by the website FiveThirtyEight, Ramaswamy is polling 3.5 percent between declared or presumed Republican candidates for the 2024 race, behind Donald Trumpโs 54%, DeSantisโs 21 percent and previous Unitedย States Vice President Mike Penceโs 5.1%.
He is certainly not the 1st politician to take up the cause of Bitcoinย (BTC) or other digital assets. Robert J. Kennedy Jr. delivered a keynote speech at the Bitcoinย (BTC) 2023 conference.
โI am an ardent defender and a lifelong defender of civil liberties,โ Kennedy stated. โAnd Bitcoinย (BTC) is both an exercise and a guarantee of those freedoms.โ
Onย theย otherย hand, Ramaswamy โ who likewise spoke at the same conference โ canย potentially be the only pro- Bitcoinย (BTC) candidate who states a sophisticated understanding of the cryptocurrency.
Conversely, previous Unitedย States President Donald Trump once referred to Bitcoinย (BTC) as a โscam,โ according to a story by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Itโs not clear if he will maintain that stance during his run for reelection.
Ramaswamy reveals heโs pro- Bitcoinย (BTC) because he views it as a โdecentralized alternativeโ to the Unitedย States dollar, augmenting the countryโs financial infrastructure by holding the โexisting systemโs feet to the fire.โ
โCompetition breeds strength,โ stated Ramaswamy. โI view it as a source of competition to the existing system.โ
He reveals Bitcoinย (BTC) antagonists like Unitedย States Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, are โblinded by their quest for power, dominion, control and punishment.โ Warrenโs team didnโt instantly reply to a request for comment.
โEven some more intelligent minds lose theย potential to think with clarity inย theย caseย of their natural guttural tendencies to seize power as much as possible,โ Ramaswamy stated. โ Aย lotย of them may think theyโre beginningย with good intentions and think theyโre protecting people by doing so, but inย reality, they end up harming the very people they purport to protect.โ
He reveals if he became president, he would slash headcount at the Federal Reserve by 90 percent and that he would be open to overhauling the Unitedย States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), especially given what he stated as its โvague enforcement discretion.โ
โ Manyย of our existing securities regulation apparatus is outdated and broken. We can essentially learn from allowing units of measurement like Bitcoinย (BTC) to roam free of SEC regulation,โ Ramaswamy stated. โThe administrative state in its entirety hasย toย be reformed.โ
Ramaswamyโs Bitcoinย (BTC) backstory
The 37-year-old previous high school valedictorian and summa cum laude Harvard biology graduate reveals he 1st came across Bitcoinย (BTC) while at Yale Law School.
โ Andย once I was in law school I had a full-time job as a hedge fund manager asย well. So I was entrenched in financial markets,โ Ramaswamy stated. โThen I heard this completely parallel system under the mantra โcode is law.โ Thatโs when it caught my attention.โ
The โcode is lawโ principle is trending in the cryptocurrency community and considers actions triggered by computer code just and fair regardlessย of being potentially controversial. The most trending instance of this is the 2016 Ethereumย (ETH) DAO hack.
Ramaswamy, who has a informed net worth of around $630 million, soonerย orย thereafter purchased some Bitcoinย (BTC) (BTC), but for the sake of โbest practiceโ during his campaign, no longer self-manages his personal portfolio and canโt confirm if he still holds any.
Withinย a speech at the Bitcoinย (BTC) 2023 conference, he claimed to be the 1st Republican candidate in theย present election cycle to accept Bitcoinย (BTC) donations and the 1st ever to do so over the Lightning Network, a Bitcoinย (BTC) growing solution for cheaper and quicker transactions.
โWeโre accepting donations via the Lightning Network,โ Ramaswamy stated. โI will elevate theseย matters that we just talked about to the center of the Republican discussions in the primaries.โ
Bradley Keoun.
