Crypto Debates Heat Up in Presidential Race

Amid criticism directed at Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other “three-letter agencies” during the Republican Party presidential debate on November 6, United States presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy asserted that regulatory bodies had fallen behind in the realm of cryptocurrencies.

Ramaswamy described Gensler’s refusal to acknowledge before Congress that Ether, the native currency of Ethereum, ought to be classified as a commodity as “absolutely embarrassing.”

The inquiry aimed at Ramaswamy made reference to the recent culpability of Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEO of Binance, and questioned how his policies favorable to cryptocurrencies would impede the release of fraudulent individuals.

Ramaswamy replied, “Fraudsters, criminals, and terrorists have been defrauding people for a very long time.” “Our regulatory framework must remain current in nature.”

“The fact that SBF was able to do what he did FTX shows that whatever they have is the current framework isn’t working.”

In the wake of Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis, an additional pro-crypto candidate, weighed in on the matter, reiterating his unequivocal opposition to the establishment of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). “A central bank-issued digital currency is one of the threats we will face, which Biden wants.

DeSantis stated, “They wish to eliminate cash and cryptocurrencies, and they will certainly regulate your purchases.” Few presidential candidates, including Ramaswamy, have prioritized cryptocurrency as a campaign theme.

“On day one as president, we take the idea of CBDCs and throw it in the trash can. It’ll be dead on arrival.”

One and only among the Republican presidential candidates, he has introduced a policy framework for cryptocurrencies.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former candidate for the Democratic Party, has incorporated cryptocurrency into his campaign platform, even stating that he would support the U.S. dollar with Bitcoin if he were to be elected president.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat running for re-election to the Senate, has proclaimed a “war on crypto” as an alternative term for this contentious issue outside of the presidential contest.