As one writer recently observed, Washington has its fair share of undercover Bitcoin enthusiasts other than Blockchain Association member and Republican Congressman Tom Emmer, and once one peels back the political veneer to get a sense of what US politicians actually think about cryptocurrency, some surprising views emerge.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis is perhaps one of the loudest voices advocating cryptocurrency along with Emmer. The entrepreneur turned politician has a distinctive modern-technology background; being an early adopter of the internet he founded American Information Systems, a dial-up internet service provider in the mid-1990s. Additionally, he has founded several cyber-businesses and was reported to have received USD 2,500 in Bitcoin campaign donations in 2014.
Ex-vice president Al Gore is another pro-crypto big gun in Washington, although he keeps it pretty quiet, although his allegiance is clear with comments such as, “I think the fact that within the Bitcoin universe an algorithm replaces the functions of [the government]… is actually pretty cool”.
New Mexico’s Former Governor Gary Johnson showed his true colors when he accepted Bitcoin donations during the 2016 US Elections, despite Clinton and Trump turning away from digital currency, which might have boosted their appeal to millennial voters; an opportunity missed perhaps, or just lack of foresight in not understanding who actually uses Bitcoin.
Former Republican presidential candidate and congressman Ron Paul has done an about turn, from once shunning Bitcoin to pointing out that the hallmark digital currency could even prevent another US recession, pointing out:
“The system we have today is not viable, it’s out of control, the amount of debt that’s building up we might end up with the dollar but not the system… That is the system, and we are flat out broke, we’ve been broke for some time. There will be liquidation, when the debt gets this big, the debt has to disappear.”
Paul suggests that the government keep its nose out cryptocurrency and “turn it loose”.
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