Written by: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
On July 16, 2024, the Republican National Convention officially approved JD Vance as the Republican vice presidential candidate. Trump said that Senator JD Vance is the best candidate for the vice presidential candidate. US President Biden said that Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is a replica of Trump on some issues. Musk also posted on the X platform: Congratulations to JD Vance for becoming the Republican vice presidential candidate. This is an excellent decision.
If Trump is elected, JD Vance, who will turn 40 in August, will become one of the youngest vice presidents in American history, and has only two years of elected experience, but he is the most representative figure of "America First" populism.
Who is JD Vance? Why does Trump favor him? If JD Vance successfully starts his political career, what impact will it have on the crypto industry? How will JD Vance's political propositions affect Sino-US relations?
Vance was born in Jackson, Kentucky in August 1984. When Vance was young, his mother suffered from drug addiction due to long-term use of painkillers. Later, she even became addicted to heroin and divorced several times. Since his parents failed to provide a stable family environment, Vance was mainly raised by his grandparents.
After graduating from high school, Vance joined the US Marine Corps and was sent to Iraq to serve in the public affairs department of the US military. After retiring from the military, Vance went to Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree.
After graduating from Ohio State University, Vance went to Yale Law School for further studies and obtained a doctor of law degree. His mentor in the first year at Yale was Amy Chua, who gave Vance a lot of encouragement when he decided to write his autobiography in the future.
In 2016, Harper published Vance's book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of the Crisis of a Family and Culture. The book was on the New York Times bestseller list in 2016 and 2017. It was a finalist for the 2017 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and won the 2017 Audie Award for Nonfiction. The New York Times called it "one of the six best books to help understand Trump's victory." The Washington Post called him "the voice of the Rust Belt," while the New Republic criticized him as "the liberal media's favorite white trash interpreter" and "the false prophet of blue America." William Easterly, an economist who grew up in West Virginia, criticized the book, writing that “brushstroke profiling of a group of people — coastal elites, fly-over Americans, Muslims, immigrants, people without college degrees, you name it — has become the norm. And it’s killing our politics.”
Vance rose to fame with his bestselling 2016 memoir about his tumultuous childhood with a drug-addicted single mother and a steady stream of boyfriends in a financially struggling steel town in southwest Ohio. The book, which vividly captures the anger and despair of many working-class Americans who have been drawn to Trump, was adapted into a film by Netflix.
In short, the book is about the “forgotten men and women” that Trump refers to when politics calls for them. But Vance saw Trump differently at the time. Vance, a self-proclaimed anti-Trump, attacked Trump with vitriol, calling him "nasty" and "reprehensible." His extreme views on the newly elected president won him further acclaim and he became a political commentator.
In addition, Vance also made direct and sharp criticisms of Trump, calling him "nasty" and accusing him of "leading the white working class into a very dark situation," calling Trump "America's Hitler" and comparing him to "cultural heroin." But in the end he accepted Trump.
All this changed around 2018, one of the most sudden and unlikely transformations in recent political memory. Soon, Vance went from attacker to Trump follower. The reason soon became clear. Vance badly needed Trump's endorsement to run for the U.S. Senate. Trump, who sees ritual humiliation as a necessary step into his inner circle, put Vance to the test. At a 2022 rally, Trump taunted the young upstart. "J.D. is kissing my ass, and he wants my endorsement so badly," Trump said. Vance got the endorsement, and Trump got the satisfaction of making Vance eat his words.
Vance eventually became a loyal ally of Trump. Like Trump, he supported Israel and opposed Ukraine. He embraced Trump's protectionist stance on tariffs.
On cultural issues, Vance said he was willing to consider a federal 15-week abortion ban, but downplayed it in recognition of Trump's shifting positions on the issue. Trump, well aware that abortion rights benefit Democrats, has sought to distance himself from promises of federal action and insisted on leaving a promise of a federal ban out of the Democratic platform — a cornerstone position for decades.
BTIG Policy Research Managing Director Isaac Boltansky called Vance a "true believer in Trump's protectionist policies."
"From opposing U.S. Steel's deal with Japanese steel companies to his openness to a devaluation of the dollar, Vance is in lockstep with Trump and could bring new enthusiasm to policy efforts," Boltansky said, adding that his "protectionist stance" should play well in swing states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Vance has also called for firing dozens of federal workers and replacing them with Republican loyalists. He said in a 2021 interview that he would "fire every mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the executive state and replace them with our people."
The comments echo proposals in "Project 2025," a blueprint being developed by some of Trump's closest former advisers that calls for closing some federal agencies and replacing civil servants with officials seen as more loyal to the former president.
Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., endorsed Vance for candidacy. The decision shows the influence Trump Jr. has over his father and how he could play a role in a future Trump administration. Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner held official positions during Trump's presidency but have since shied away from involvement in his campaign.
He has also used his business connections to raise money for Trump, including arranging a major fundraiser in San Francisco in June led by Silicon Valley investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya.
Vance has shown that he is highly flexible and will no doubt keep a close eye on Trump's evolving thinking to find the most politically expedient solution.
More than any other candidate, Vance's selection signals Trump's desire to lock in MAGA loyalists and secure their votes -- even if it means losing more moderate and independent voters. Vance's rhetoric has sometimes been harsher and more fiery than Trump's, and his positions have been more extreme.
But his appeal to MAGA supporters is clear. Shortly after Trump’s “Truth Social” website announced his election, Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation, author of the Trump 2025 blueprint for a second term, was ecstatic. “We’re really rooting for him. We’re so happy,” Roberts told Bloomberg columnist Mary Ellen Krauss.
Golden Finance Note: MAGA means multiple layers of meaning to Trump voters. While most Trump voters believe that “MAGA” (Make America Great Again) means “stronger borders” and “better economy,” they also define it in a variety of other ways, including that it simply means “Donald Trump.”
Trump named Vance his running mate, elevating the venture capitalist-turned-senator to the Republican presidential nominee, whose embrace of populist politics has captured national attention and made him a rising star in the party.
Vance, 39, is decades younger than Trump, 78, making the sharp-tongued senator the heir to the youthful and vibrant "MAGA" movement. His election also sent a clear message to the nation that Trump is building a movement to reshape the country, not just for one term, but for the future.
Against the backdrop of escalating political violence around the world, the gunfire at the rally was a stark reminder of the importance of the vice president, who would take over if the president was killed or unable to perform his duties.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Vance became the head of Mithril Capital Management, a Thiel-backed venture capital firm, in 2016, where he served for a relatively short time. In 2017, he joined Revolution LLC, a Washington firm backed by Steve Case, as a partner focused on startups. In 2019, he moved back to Ohio and founded Narya Capital. Vance took a page from Thiel’s playbook by naming his new company Narya after the ring worn by the wizard Gandalf in the books. Narya is backed by Thiel and other high-profile investors, including Eric Schmidt and Marc Andreessen.
Vance has a somewhat complicated relationship with Silicon Valley. During his 2022 Senate campaign, which was backed by Thiel, he criticized big tech companies, saying they have too much power and influence over politics. He argued that his background prepared him to take on the “big tech oligarchs.”
Vance also praised the Biden administration's tech-focused antitrust enforcement, especially Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan. That sets Vance apart from chamber-of-Commerce types, who have been critical of Khan’s broad interpretation of existing antitrust laws to prosecute tech companies that don’t fit the profile of historical monopolies.
“I think Lina Khan is one of the few people in the Biden administration who’s actually done a pretty good job,” Vance said at a conference in February.
But while Vance’s criticism of Big Tech may anger some in the industry, it’s similar to sentiments expressed by smaller businesses. Startups and venture capitalists have long complained that the size and power of Big Tech makes it hard for smaller companies to compete. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz calls the startup world “little tech,” noting the differences in priorities between small and big companies.
Vance has also taken on Wall Street in other ways, supporting legislation with Elizabeth Warren to recover pay for bank executives when banking institutions fail, and backing railroads with Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown after the East Palestine disaster, and proposing a Trump-backed SECURE bill.
Major Silicon Valley investors congratulated Vance on his win. Musk called the decision a "great choice" and said the presidential lineup "rings victory" on X, the social platform he owns. Investor and Trump supporter David Sacks, who is scheduled to speak at the Republican convention on Monday night, called Vance an "American patriot" in a post.
Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Founders Fund, a venture capital firm backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, summed up the sentiment of many of his peers, posting: "It's JD VANCE. A former tech venture capitalist in the White House. Greatest country on Earth."
The Silicon Valley tech industry has long been a liberal bastion, nestled in Democratic stronghold California and rooted in progressive San Francisco. But the Republican wing of the tech world has become more pronounced recently, with major figures such as Musk, Sacks and Sequoia Capital's Sean Maguire all expressing their support for Trump and donating to him in his presidential run against President Joe Biden.
Biden slammed Vance, questioning the populist credentials of the No. 2 Republican and saying the campaign would cause economic damage to middle-class American families.
"That's what happened with Vance. He touted the working class. But now, he and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing for further tax cuts for the rich," Biden said in a post on X.
The presidential campaign also pointed out that Trump had a falling out with his last running mate, former President Mike Pence, over his refusal to block the certification of Biden's victory. On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters marched to the U.S. Capitol, with protesters chanting "Hang Mike Pence."
Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign chair, said Trump appointed Vance because he "will do what Mike Pence was unwilling to do on January 6: spare no effort to support Trump and his extreme 'Make America Great Again' vision, even if it means breaking the law."
Throughout his political career, Vance has stood with the cryptocurrency industry many times.
On May 16, Vance was one of 60 senators who voted to overturn the SEC’s controversial SAB 121 accounting rule, a set of policy proposals to prevent U.S. banks from keeping custody of crypto assets.
Vance spoke at Remedy Fest, a private conference co-hosted by Y Combinator and Bloomberg, on Feb. 28.
“If there was a worst person in my opinion, at least in terms of my substantive disagreements… it would be Gary Gensler.”
“Gary’s approach to blockchain and crypto regulation is the exact opposite of the way it should be regulated.”
On Feb. 7, Vance led several other Republican senators in a letter to Gensler expressing concerns about an enforcement action against cryptocurrency mining company Debt Box, after a judge found that SEC lawyers used false statements to justify freezing assets associated with the company.
“It is unconscionable that any federal agency … which typically fulfills its regulatory mission through enforcement actions rather than rulemaking … would operate in such an unethical and unprofessional manner,” Vance wrote in the letter.
Vance expressed concern that the SEC’s prosecution of the debt scandal was “unethical and unprofessional.” Source: JD Vance
According to Politico, JD Vance recently drafted a bill that will reform the way the United States regulates digital assets. Sources say the bill will be more favorable to the crypto industry than a bill passed by the House of Representatives in June. It is reported that, like the House bill, JD Vance's plan will overhaul the way the U.S. SEC and CFTC regulate the cryptocurrency market, which is a major priority for cryptocurrency companies and investors who are dissatisfied with Washington's current policies.
In February 2022, when the Canadian Finance Minister froze the bank accounts of a truck driver fleet protesting the COVID-19 blockade, Vance praised cryptocurrency as a solution to the problem of excessive government intervention.
"This is why cryptocurrency is popular. If your political views are wrong, the regime will cut off your access to banking services," he wrote in an X post on February 16.
In the financial disclosure report submitted to the U.S. Senate in 2022, Vance reported holding between $100,001 and $250,000 in Bitcoin. The vice presidential candidate has not yet submitted financial disclosures for 2023. His current estimated net worth is at least $5 million and at most $10.5 million.
Since Trump was shot, the crypto market has clearly rebounded. Just when industry insiders were cheering for the bull market, good news from Republican vice presidential candidate Vance once again set off a bull market wave in the industry.
According to Golden Finance, BTC once rose above $64,500 this morning, ETH broke through $3,400, SOL broke through $160, the Meme coin sector rose generally, and PEPE and Floki rose by more than 15% in 24 hours.
The recent crypto market can even be described as "killing the bear with one shot." Therefore, the future of the crypto industry may be brighter due to Vance's election as vice president.
In his first interview after being appointed as Trump's running mate, JD Vance called China the biggest threat facing the United States, emphasizing that if elected, the US government may take a tough stance against China.
When asked about the war in Ukraine, Vance said that Trump would negotiate with Moscow and Kiev to "end this war quickly so that the United States can focus on the real problem, which is China."
"This is the biggest threat facing our country, and we are completely distracted by it."
On the issue of China, Biden, Trump and Vance all hold a tough stance on China: Biden has announced a new 100% electric vehicle tax on China. Trump has promised to raise tariffs on China across the board if he is re-elected, and has pledged to impose a 60% tariff on all Chinese imports.
This is not the first time Vance has expressed a tough attitude towards China. The senator, who was a venture capitalist, has previously called for "broad tariffs" on Chinese goods and advocated bringing American manufacturing back to the country to reduce dependence on China.
Born in 1984, he grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and was partially raised by his grandmother. After graduating from high school in 2003, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, served for four years, and was deployed to Iraq.
Received a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Ohio State University in 2009 and a law degree from Yale Law School in 2013.
Served as a law clerk to Texas Senator John Cornyn in 2011 and clerked for U.S. District Judge David Bunning in Kentucky.
Worked as a litigation associate in Sidley Austin’s Washington, D.C. office from October 2014 to May 2015 and served as director of operations at biotech company Circuit Therapeutics for a year.
Became a principal at Mithril Capital Management in San Francisco in 2016 and joined Revolution LLC, a venture capital firm in Washington, D.C., as a partner focused on startups in 2017. Published Hillbilly Elegy in 2016.
Moved back to Ohio in 2019 to found Naraya Capital and the nonprofit Ohio Renewal.
Run for U.S. Senator in 2021. Win the fierce Republican primary in May 2022 and be elected in November.
On July 16, 2024, the Republican National Convention formally approved JD Vance as the Republican vice presidential candidate.
Source: Golden Finance, Bloomberg, Reuters, CoinTelegraph
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