As the election approaches, the confrontation between Trump and Harris is undoubtedly more intense. In the field of encryption, the confrontation between the two is becoming increasingly fierce. Harris has rarely spoken out recently, saying that she will support digital assets. Trump is undoubtedly more radical. Not only has he released a new NFT series, but he has also recently once again stood up for the Trump family's Defi project World Liberty Financial and vigorously promoted his own encryption stance.
For crypto voters, the beliefs of politicians who swing left and right still seem hard to believe, but even if they hesitate, they will inevitably choose one of the two to cast a vote that represents their own vision. Charles Bethea, a reporter from the New Yorker, is quite interested in this group. By attending a crypto gathering in Atlanta, he has a better understanding of crypto voters. Who will they choose? And who are they? The article records what Charles saw and heard during his on-site participation, reflecting the values and beliefs of typical American crypto enthusiasts.
The following is the original translation, which has been deleted due to space reasons:
Recently, I attended a cryptocurrency gathering near Atlanta with the theme of "Bitcoin Entering the Mainstream Political Stage". The gathering was organized by Rich Clark, a real estate agent in his early 40s. Clark runs a community with thousands of members, Bitcoin Atlanta. This is also Clark's attempt to make cryptocurrency and politics intersect, he said, "This has always been a sensitive topic," and he mentioned that most cryptocurrency enthusiasts have historically been "indifferent to politics." Bitcoin, in particular, has long been associated with financial sovereignty, and supporters tend to criticize excessive government intervention, such as regulation, censorship, and central banks.
Clark's interest in cryptocurrency began in 2012, when he twice supported Ron Paul for president. "I came to the conclusion that operating within the existing system would not bring us any benefits," Clark said. “We had to build a new system or a parallel system,” he continued. “At the same time, Bitcoin was taking off. So I thought, this is one thing I can do to help lay the new track.”
In late 2020, Clark, a former audio engineer, opened a cryptocurrency consulting firm, but then never got off the ground. In the early days, he mined some Bitcoin. “I’ve been in crypto for so long that people thought I was a multimillionaire,” he told me. “In fact, I gambled most of my money away. But being out of the financial layer has helped me see things more clearly.” Since getting into crypto, Clark has voted in presidential elections, “just barely”—until this election. He was an alternate Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention in July, in part because of Trump’s support for cryptocurrency.
“Cryptocurrency is the problem, but it’s about other issues, too,” Clark believes, and making Bitcoin, rather than the dollar, the world’s reserve currency could promote peace. “All of the U.S. wars since World War I have been financed primarily by inflation,” he argued. “Bitcoin has no central issuer and no fixed supply, so this inflation mechanism is essentially impossible.” Clark doesn’t expect Trump to do this, “but he can give the technology more breathing room.”
I asked Clark if he knew Trump’s recent support for cryptocurrency would win him votes. He told the story of a thirty-something friend who had never voted before but decided to vote this year after Trump said he would pardon Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht was the founder of Silk Road, an online black market that facilitated countless illegal transactions through Bitcoin before being shut down, making Bitcoin one of its first major use cases. In 2015, he was sentenced to two life sentences without parole for crimes including drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking. “He’s a folk hero in our community,” Clark continued. I asked him if he believed Trump would make good on his promise. “If you want to weigh the tradeoff between voting for someone who has made it clear that he likes cryptocurrency and would pardon Ross and someone who’s been silent on the issue, I think you have to choose the former—whether he’s lying or not.” The meeting began on the patio of a coworking space in Chamblee, Georgia. Clark’s plan for the mid-August debate was to bring together representatives of the three most prominent presidential candidates, but they couldn’t find anyone to represent Vice President Kamala Harris, and then Robert F. Kennedy suspended his campaign. Clark saw the day’s attendees as mostly right-wing and male. “When a woman comes to a crypto meetup,” he said, “you’re like, ‘Hey! What’s up!’ ” Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are aware of the stereotypes that surround them. “We’re used to being portrayed as crazy, fringe weirdos,” Clark told me. In July, a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, titled “The Political, Psychological, and Social Relevance of Cryptocurrency Ownership,” gave academic credence to some of these views. The paper, co-authored by Uschinsky and based on a 2022 survey of two thousand Americans, has been widely circulated in the cryptocurrency world.
Clark excerpts from the abstract:Individuals who own cryptocurrencies "express a variety of political allegiances and identities. We also find that cryptocurrency ownership is associated with belief in conspiracy theories, 'dark' personality traits, and more frequent use of alternative and fringe social media platforms." Many in the community consider social networks like X to be legitimate sources of news. The report said that cryptocurrency holders spend a lot of time online, one of the few findings that Clark agreed with. "This is clearly biased," he eventually concluded. "But you can judge for yourself whether you think cryptocurrency holders have these psychological tendencies."
Free barbecue was provided at the party, and when I arrived, about 30 people had already arrived to enjoy it. As expected, most were male, with beards, and many were friendly. The first person I chatted with was Joey, a theater director in his 60s who wore a T-shirt that read “SINGLE,” “TAKEN,” and “HODLING.” As we sat down to eat brisket, Counting Crows playing in the background, Joey told me that he learned about cryptocurrency more than a decade ago from his son, who was mining it in the basement of their home. Joey was attracted to “the philosophy behind Bitcoin” — the potential for us to have a place to store money without it devaluing as countries continue to print money. “I asked about Trump. “He at least recognized Kennedy’s ideas,” Joey said, noting that he supported Kennedy more. “Trump didn’t like Bitcoin before, and now he does. Biden doesn’t like it. Maybe he will change? Harris hasn’t spoken yet. "After Kennedy dropped out of the race, Joey hesitated.
Camille, 35, a Polish-born electromechanical engineer who became a U.S. citizen in the late 1990s, has been trading cryptocurrencies since 2011. He once owned hundreds of bitcoins, but said: "I was a poor college student with free internet money to go around, and I definitely dabbled in it." Cryptocurrencies temper Camille's belief in "economic freedom." He has voted Republican since he was first elected in 2016, in large part because of crypto policy. "The opposition is strongly against cryptocurrencies from all sides. They want to monitor it, restrict it and even tax it. Of course, this is not okay." Trump's endorsement excites him, but he doubts that many crypto enthusiasts who haven't yet voted Republican will switch parties. "I hope Trump's embrace will move people, but I haven't seen people change their votes, even those who have benefited greatly from it. ”
Andrew, a fifty-eight-year-old software developer with a big beard, stood next to a megaphone. “The people who have studied free money principles are basically one-issue voters,” he told me, referring to the idea, largely promoted by libertarian economists, that the financial system should have limited government intervention and be based on a finite supply of money. “The monetary issue has to be solved first. Everything else is on the margins. Whoever advocates the best position on this issue gets their vote.” He went on, “I don’t usually vote for Democrats. But if they come up with other policies—like owning your own wallet, buying and selling cryptocurrencies—and Trump continues to call it a scam, I’ll be in trouble. But it doesn’t work that way. ”
The Wallflowers began playing as I sat down next to another bearded, bespectacled man, a former IT worker who initially didn’t want to give his name but offered his nickname, X. (X seems to be a favorite of the crypto community across all major social media platforms, perhaps due in part to Elon Musk’s enthusiastic support for a cryptocurrency called Dogecoin.) “There are ten U.S. senators in Nashville,” he said, referring to the Bitcoin conference. “Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy, which is awesome.” He calls himself a “centrist” who “doesn’t trust any political party,” but he’s made up his mind. “I was already in the Trump camp before I went to Nashville. But Trump was a pleasant surprise to me. I think Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur who supported Trump, told him, ‘Look, there are free votes here.’ Trump just went and picked up the ballots. He’s very pragmatic. ”
An IT developer named Solomon is talking to Joy, a theater director. Solomon praises Trump for “daring to challenge the old system.” Joy praises what he describes as Kennedy’s desire “to feed kids good food and prevent all these diseases.” They both decried corn subsidies as fiscally and nutritionally problematic—they believed that market intervention and corn syrup were better avoided. As soon as I got the chance, I asked Solomon what he thought of Trump’s aboutversion. “I know some crypto investors are more pro-Trump now,” he said. “They’re willing to be appeased, while the baby boomers are kind of going ‘the economy is a mess, one-party state’… not just because of crypto, but also for some other reasons.”
“I’ve been to four or five crypto conferences, and 80% of the people I talked to have always supported Trump,” Joy countered. “But when Kennedy showed up and he supported Bitcoin, Trump said, ‘Oh, I’m going to lose supporters because of Bitcoin. ’ So he changed his mind. He had no idea what Bitcoin was or how it worked. ” On that point, at least, most of the attendees I spoke to agreed.
Suddenly it began to rain—the first in weeks—and the crowd began to move. On the way in, a man in jeans and a polo shirt pulled me aside. He said he was “the only libertarian” since 2012, and he quietly told me that most of his net worth was in Bitcoin. Policies that favor cryptocurrencies are therefore a top priority for him, but he believes that cryptocurrencies will eventually become a widely used currency regardless of the election outcome. “They can’t kill it. So it doesn’t matter.” If Trump were elected, he said, “it might be good for my net worth in the short term, but what’s the point of being rich if you have to live in an empire of gray?” He added, referring to the gathering, “I almost didn’t want to come.”
Clark eased the mood at the microphone. He told attendees that he was wearing a T-shirt that cost five thousand dollars. “I bought it in 2014 with $20 in Bitcoin,” he said. Now the value of a bitcoin is fifty thousand dollars.” He introduced a large man named Weiss, who had provided the party with brisket and had bought his first bitcoin in 2010, making him one of the earliest bitcoin owners present. Weiss gave a short PowerPoint presentation comparing the presidential candidates’ positions on cryptocurrencies. Many nodded as he recounted Trump’s promise to free Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. He then listed some of Trump’s pro-cryptocurrency appeals, including his promise to fire Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission who is skeptical of cryptocurrencies, and to end “hostile” regulation.
“Next up is Biden,” he said. Clark interrupted him, in what seemed like a calculated move. “Well, it’s not Biden now. It’s Harris.” The crowd laughed. “Harris is not part of the Biden administration, is she?” Weiss said. “I want to be fair.” He listed several regulatory bills proposed by Democrats. People shook their heads. Before ending his speech, Weiss concluded, “You guys may be tired of this, but we’re bitcoin owners.” ” He went on to say, “Vote for the bill you think is best for Bitcoin owners.”
Harris supporters were asked if they would like to rebut, but none responded.
Before I left, Clark introduced me to Michael Tidwell, a man in his thirties wearing a “Free Ross” T-shirt. “Biden and Harris could have freed him, but they didn’t,” he told me. “At least Trump said he would.” I asked him about his political affiliations. “I just like good things to happen,” he said, adding that he supports “real freedom.” He used the word “a little stupid” to describe Kennedy’s behavior and noted that Trump carries “weird baggage.” He went on to say, “Normally, I wouldn’t consider voting for someone like that. I’ve never voted for a presidential candidate before.” He concluded, “But if you want Bitcoin to succeed, you have to support people who are in the worst situation. Right now, Ross is in the worst situation.”
So, he’s voting for Trump.
Miyuki
Alex
Brian
Weiliang
Joy