Crypto For Us PAC founder Jeff Turner told Fox News Digital that his new political action committee is backing pro-tech candidates because democracy depends on financial privacy.
A pro-crypto political action committee was launched this week ahead of former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump's planned speech at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, catapulting the once-fringe world of digital currencies into mainstream political activism during a pivotal election year.
Jeff Turner, a former technology executive who spent 40 years in the industry, has launched Crypto For Us PAC, a new political action committee aimed at electing tech-forward federal and statewide candidates and establishing pro-cryptocurrency freedom policies throughout the judicial and administrative systems.
Turner told Fox News Digital that roughly 21% of people who currently hold cryptocurrency are American, and while they may be a minority, they “represent a small but rapidly growing base of support for our lawmakers.”
As its base grows, Crypto For Us PAC intends to make sure they are “fully represented in terms of what happens to them both in terms of financial privacy and holding digital assets or ownership rights over digital assets,” Turner explained.
“This is not a partisan thing in any way. What we want to do is find a candidate who is fundamentally pro-liberty, pro-new forms of capitalism, and ensuring individual sovereignty,” Turner told Fox News Digital. “I think in many ways this mirrors and mirrors the U.S. Constitution. We want to protect all of that from your First Amendment rights so that when you write code you don't have to worry about federal agencies exposing your personal information.”
Turner cited the recent example of MetaMask developers being asked by the Securities and Exchange Commission to identify all of the developers writing their code.
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He also mentioned PayPal's scandal in 2022, in which customers were reportedly fined or had their accounts suspended for spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19.
Both Trump and Vance have taken pro-cryptocurrency positions. (Getty Images/Photo Illustration)
Turner said there have been real concerns during the pandemic that vaccine passports would be controlled by one central authority, and as the government moves forward with its REAL ID program, which would include retinal scans and other biometric data, his PAC supports a more decentralized and secure way of storing digital personal information through blockchain assets and blockchain-based identities.
“So we need to protect our First Amendment rights and make sure that individual agencies and commissions don't trample on them,” Turner said. “I don't think we can have a democracy or an open and free society if we can't also maintain financial privacy. And I think that's one of the key aspects that's been lost across the Western world over the last five or 10 years or so.”
Turner said that this stance in defense of individual liberties is why cryptocurrency advocates are a major part of the MAGA Republican base. He noted that Trump will speak at the conference about the importance of self-custody of cryptocurrencies and maintaining financial privacy.
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“I think it has to do with the divide between capitalist and woke culture that's happening all over the world, and it's happening primarily in Western countries, but also in the U.S., it's very evident in red versus blue states, red versus blue zip codes,” Turner said. “I think demographically, there's definitely red versus blue, but interestingly, on the blue side of the demographic, I think in many ways, people are much more open to embracing a new system and a new approach to capitalism. So I can only hope that this unites people rather than dividing them.”
Former President Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, are campaigning as cryptocurrency-friendly candidates. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Turner, who is currently a cryptocurrency executive in the blockchain space, noted that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already endorsed Bitcoin campaign donations. Kennedy is also scheduled to speak at the conference, and while there was initially talk that Vice President Harris might also attend the conference after running for president, Kennedy reportedly declined to attend.
Turner, who has watched the cryptocurrency industry evolve since first getting into bitcoin in 2012, told Fox News Digital that he envisions a “future crypto-capitalism” that secures property rights and drives the U.S. economy forward, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supports campaign donations in Bitcoin. (Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“Now is the time to see if that can happen,” Turner said. “In terms of crypto capitalism in general, I think we need to make sure we have free and frictionless markets going forward. And especially when you look at things like AI and artificial intelligence, the backend services are likely going to be paid for in crypto. So we basically need to make sure the U.S. remains at the forefront of the tech economy now.”
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Turner said that over the past four years he has seen many companies and projects relocate to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Switzerland rather than being based in the United States.
“I really think this is the future of Silicon Valley. Decentralized technology and a decentralized approach to doing these things is the way we're going to move forward,” Turner said.
“We really want to make sure that we focus on technology going forward,” he said. “We need to build more freedom and sovereignty-oriented technology to build a new parallel system, because we know from everything that's happened so far, especially the last five years, that the current system that we follow, especially the existing central bank fiat and debt-based monetary system, has a lot of inherent vulnerabilities and problems.”
