“The Claman Countdown” panelists Sam Brownback and Dennis Kucinich react to former President Trump's special announcement at the Republican National Convention.
Let's call them crypto candidates.
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump announced Monday via his Truth Social media platform that he has chosen Ohio Senator and former tech venture capitalist J.D. Vance as his running mate.
J.D. Vance gestures as he speaks during a reception at the Ohio Republican Party's election eve party in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 8, 2022. – Republican J.D. Vance is the author of the best-selling book “Hillbilly Elegy,” who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump. (Photo: Paul Vernon/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Trump, who has made digital asset innovation a key part of his campaign platform, praised Vance's “highly successful business career in technology and finance” and for fighting for American workers.
Elon Musk praises Trump's running mate J.D. Vance
But Vance brings his own crypto track record to the presidential race: Since being elected to the Senate in 2022, he has introduced and voted for pro-crypto bills, is a holder of the world's largest digital currency, Bitcoin, and has been a vocal critic of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Genzer's efforts to tighten regulation of digital assets.
“…JD is a great choice, he's a former venture capitalist and has great crypto experience,” said Nick Carter, founder of Castle Island Ventures. post on his X account. “Trump 2.0 stands for tech, Silicon Valley, and American dynamism.”
Vance, 39, comes from a working-class background in Ohio, served in the Marines, went to college and Yale Law School before going to work as a venture capitalist for PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
He is also a best-selling author. His 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” delved into the economic plight of the middle class and helped explain the populism behind Donald Trump's rise to power as a congressman and president that year. He and Trump were not always allies. Vance was originally a free marketer and libertarian, and criticized Trump's political style.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump was hurriedly removed from the stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Getty Images)
But his views have grown more populist over the years, he has leaned more toward the MAGA movement, and Trump endorsed him for the Ohio Senate race.
Trump nominates Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance for 2024 presidential run
Vance will be the first millennial to run for a major party presidential candidate, bringing generational politics, including cryptocurrency, to the election. Vance voted to repeal the controversial Staff Accounting Bulletin, SAB 121, which restricted certain banks and brokerage firms from holding digital assets. The bulletin passed by simple majorities in both houses of Congress in May, but was ultimately vetoed by President Biden.
In February, Vance, along with several other Republican senators, wrote to SEC Chairman Gensler expressing concerns about an enforcement action against cryptocurrency firm Debtbox, in which a judge found that SEC lawyers made false statements to justify freezing assets and bank accounts linked to the company.
“It is simply unacceptable for a federal agency to operate in such an unethical and unprofessional manner,” Vance wrote. “Events like the Debtbox scandal erode trust and put the mission at risk.”
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Vance also released a statement slamming Gensler's regulation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, saying that Gensler wants to bring politics into the securities business “too much” and that his approach to regulating cryptocurrencies and blockchain is “the opposite of what should be done.”
Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) speaks at the conservative Turning Point People's Convention at Huntington Place on June 16, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Jeff Kowalski/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Last year, Vance introduced the Financial Regulatory Accountability Act in the Senate, aimed at preventing federal banking regulators from blocking disadvantaged industries, such as gun manufacturers and cryptocurrency companies, from accessing banking services.
Following Canada's finance minister freezing the bank accounts of Canadians protesting mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations in 2022, Vance recommended cryptocurrency as a solution.
“This is why cryptocurrencies are so popular,” he said. post Regarding X. “If you take the wrong political stance, the administration will cut off your access to the bank.”
Other members of the $2 trillion crypto industry are hoping that a Trump and Vance victory will serve as a roadblock for anti-crypto lawmakers like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who touted building an “anti-crypto army” as part of her reelection campaign.
“Senator Warren's 'anti-crypto army' will be no match for a Trump-Vance administration,” Sam Lyman, public policy director at Riot Platforms, told Fox Business. “This is a dream ticket for anyone who believes in self-sovereignty and freedom of commerce.”
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Meanwhile, President Trump himself is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the largest Bitcoin conference in Nashville next week, where he is expected to unveil his plans to promote blockchain technology, self-custody of digital assets, and block the creation of so-called central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Vivek Ramaswami, a cryptocurrency adviser to President Trump and former Republican presidential candidate who is reportedly under consideration for a cabinet post in Trump's administration, is scheduled to speak at the event. It is unclear whether Vance will attend.
