Author: Wu Huoqiu Jiaozhu, Baihua Blockchain
Recently, Trump attended the 2024 Bitcoin Conference as a top guest. Under the spotlight, he made a series of "sweet" promises that crypto enthusiasts saw, expressing his "love" for Bitcoin almost without reservation. Trump said that the market value of Bitcoin would exceed that of gold, and that he would make the crypto-unfriendly SEC chairman step down after being elected, and would also retain the government-pledged Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, etc. He was just short of saying "Let the United States ALL in Bitcoin", and the audience responded with warm applause. Due to the attendance of Trump and others, this conference has also become the highest-level Bitcoin summit in history.
"ETF, SEC, interest rate hikes, elections...", when we found that these focuses that have had a huge impact on the crypto market have all focused on the United States, the United States has become the dominant force in the crypto market, and has almost mastered the "pricing power" of crypto assets such as Bitcoin. The upcoming US election will have a far-reaching impact on the crypto market, so the crypto community has been paying close attention to the dynamics of the US election recently.
Trump's frequent overtures to crypto assets are considered good news by many people, while others believe that this is just a "play" to win votes. After becoming president, he will "pull up his pants and leave" or even "burn the bridge after crossing the river".So how credible are Trump's sweet words? Who is right and who is wrong? Everything has to start with the propositions and values of the two major camps of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the United States...
01 Why is Bitcoin favored by Trump and the Republican Party?
Many people believe that in the context of the confrontation between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the election year: Bitcoin crypto users and voters are suppressed by the Democratic Party-dominated authorities,Trump's overtures are conducive to winning more votes and generous donations, paving the way for the next election. This logic makes perfect sense, but in this way, it is uncertain whether the Republican Party and Trump will "abandon after having sex" after winning the election. There are many similar examples in history.
In fact, there is no need to worry about this. Many people only know one side of the story but not the other. Another very important background is the propositions and values of the Republican Party to which Trump belongs.
Simply put, the values of the Republican Party, including Trump, determine the route and main direction of their future policy making. In fact, the Republican Party and Trump's propositions include: Supporting economic policies and conservative social concepts of free markets and personal freedom, and a certain degree of right-leaning conservatism. At the same time, Trump proposed policies to support technological innovation, advocate personal privacy and security, and oppose overly concentrated monetary control and financial supervision. In general, people who lean to the right may be more inclined to support and participate in technological innovation and market freedom.
It is not difficult to see that Bitcoin's core concept of returning financial power to individuals is completely in line with the values of personal freedom and market freedom of the Republican Party and Trump. At the same time, Bitcoin is also more favored and supported as an emerging technology and investment opportunity supported by them.
This can also be seen from Musk, who also supports the value concept of Bitcoin. In a recent interview, Musk said that he is an admirer of American values. He has supported the Democratic Party in history and now supports the Republican Party. He is just looking for which party is more in line with the American values in his mind. Currently, the Republican Party is more in line with his advocated value of justice, not abusing DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, which is a typical left-wing value), and advocating basic American principles such as personal freedom, so he now supports the Republican Party.
Of course, Trump's speech at the Bitcoin Conference is still "nauseating", and his promises are expected to be discounted. After all, the purpose of doing things now is more to win votes, and when he really holds a high position, he needs to weigh the pros and cons of various things. The implementation of new policies is expected to inevitably lead to some controversy.
Finally, the flat reaction of the Bitcoin market after Trump's speech will show that everyone knows that you can't listen to what he says, but you have to see what he will really do at that time.
02 Why don’t the Democrats like Bitcoin so much?
As the leader of this US government,what the Democrats have done in recent years has actually been seen by all of us. Although their attitude has eased as the election approaches, in fact, almost all Democratic leaders, including Biden, SEC Chairman, and current presidential candidate Harris, do not seem to like Bitcoin very much.
It is still a question of values. As Musk mentioned above, the Democrats are obviously left-leaning in their positions and policy propositions, and some people have even criticized them as "extreme left". The Democratic Party’s propositions, including environmental impact and sustainability, financial inequality and social justice, and stronger supervision, reflect its values of weakening personal freedom and power and emphasizing public and collective interests.
Obviously, under the left-leaning values, the core concept of Bitcoin is not so harmonious, so the left-wing Democrats, including Biden and Harris, do not actually like Bitcoin that much.
03 No matter who is elected, the wheel of history cannot be changed
1) There are also many supporters within the Democratic Party
Although the Democratic Party leans to the left, not all people are "extreme left". Most people are still rational and stick to the facts. The Democratic Party has previously made it clear that they will move closer to the centrists and stay away from the extreme left on market and financial regulation issues.
Previously, in the vote on the bill to ban the crypto-unfriendly cryptocurrency accounting policy SAB 121, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed it by 228-182 votes, and the Democratic-led Senate passed the resolution by 60 votes to 38 votes. Although it was ultimately vetoed by Biden, it can be shown that a considerable number of Democrats also support Bitcoin. I believe that with the internationalization and mainstreaming of crypto assets, more progress will be made in the future.
2) American Core Values
For so many years, people have always believed that Bitcoin is one of the main challengers to the hegemony of the US dollar and should have been blocked long ago. Even if the United States cannot completely block it, it has the ability to marginalize it. But in fact, it has not, not only because of Bitcoin's own anti-fragility, but also because one of the reasons behind it is that it is difficult for Americans to violate the core values of the United States.
Individuals were once prohibited from holding gold in the United States.
However, some people believe that this ban violates the principle of personal freedom and is regarded as an infringement of personal freedom and property rights. The abolition of the ban in 1974 is seen as a restoration of economic freedom and personal rights. Although the ban played a certain role in responding to the Great Depression, in the long run, it is regarded by most people as a failed policy because it restricts personal freedom and fails to fundamentally solve economic problems.
Now Americans know that it is difficult to ban private holding of Bitcoin like they did when they banned private holding of gold. First, there is a precedent of failure. Second, Bitcoin is just a string of characters compared to physical gold, and it cannot be enforced by spying on the personal privacy of every American.
If you start with Bitcoin, whose core concept is freedom and personal power, and Americans do not even have the power to hold a set of strings in their hands, then you have to overthrow the Statue of Liberty first. In fact, no matter how much the Democrats and Republicans disagree, it is impossible for someone 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.
04 Summary
In the debate, crypto assets such as Bitcoin have also been able to gain soil for growth and spiral upward. No matter who is elected in the end, it cannot change the wheel of history rolling forward. If you don’t believe it, look, there is only a thin window paper left for Bitcoin to become a reserve asset...
Alex
Brian
Weiliang
Miyuki
Joy