In the 2020 United States Presidential elections, Democratic Party’s Andrew Yang has announced he will be accepting cryptocurrencies for his campaign fund. This move comes with a plethora of humanist policies that echo the decentralized sentiments found at the core of blockchain technology.
Crypto donations
On 24 July, Yang declared in a Tweet that his campaign would be accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum and any other ERC20 compliant token (Ethereum network-based). In order to donate via cryptocurrency, voters will be required to verify their right to vote in the United States, after which they will be sent a wallet address.
HUGE news – my campaign can now accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies! https://t.co/GScyqfZXLY Let’s build the future together. @Steven_McKie @JulianSarokin @yidagao @AdamDraper @mashadrokova @albertwenger @novogratz @ericbahn @RamanFrey @richardtitus
— Andrew Yang?⬆️?? (@AndrewYang) July 24, 2018
Yang will also be leveraging other modern technologies such as live video-streaming platform Twitch.tv to broadcast campaign events; the streaming website also accepts cryptocurrency tips.
The entrepreneur turned politician has some distinct concerns with new technologies such as robotics, software and artificial intelligence, believing that they will be eliminating millions of jobs over the next five to ten years.
However, contrary to his seemingly technophobic stance, he has the desires to maximize human welfare through what he calls “Human Capitalism” and create a Universal Basic Income (UBI), for every American, offering USD 1,000 a month in a policy called The Freedom Dividend.
Food for thought
The candidate may not need to look particularly far to marry the idea of UBI with a blockchain experiment called SwiftDemand. It is an attempt to create a basic income for anyone who signs up and quite simply, receives an unconditional 100 Swift tokens a day.
The project is currently making its transition on to the blockchain, officially turning the digital currency into a cryptocurrency, with the goal of trading Swift on to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Swift coins are “only worth as much as someone else is willing to pay for them”. It’s an attempt to create a balanced ecosystem, which is perfectly in tune with Yang’s primary policies.
Looking ahead
By 2020, United States regulators may have put in place strong regulatory frameworks for blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which could open up a world of possibility should a newly elected president hold values that chime with blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
A Libertarian candidate for the 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election has also announced that he will be accepting Bitcoin donations for his campaign. The move is controversial due to contention around the legalities of such donation, which may be something that Yang comes up against sooner than later.
Furthermore, Bitcoin is tied to an extraordinarily significant scandal in the United States. Recently, Russian hackers were in hot water for hacking the 2016 presidential race, allegedly utilizing Bitcoin to fund their operation.
Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom
Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
