Prior to the upcoming election season in the United States, many cryptocurrency holders voiced their criticisms of President Joe Biden, Democratic Party lawmakers, and the officials he appointed as regulators in his administration. While President Biden has rarely made public statements about crypto, that stance may be shifting as Election Day approaches.
Since assuming office, President Biden has played a role, whether positive or negative, in bringing crypto into the mainstream conversation surrounding presidential politics. Shortly after his inauguration, he nominated Gary Gensler as the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In March 2022, he signed an executive order to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. In 2024, the U.S. president announced and followed through with a veto of a resolution aimed at overturning an SEC accounting rule pertaining to banks and crypto.
Many crypto users based in the U.S. also seem to hold President Biden responsible for lawmakers in his party voting against legislation and policies that they consider beneficial for digital assets. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has been one of the most vocal opponents of crypto in Congress, often linking digital assets to the financing of terrorism and illicit activities.
Under Gensler’s leadership, the SEC has taken more aggressive enforcement actions against crypto firms, and there are ongoing cases against Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, and others. Publicly, the SEC chair has maintained that a “come in and talk to us” approach is the best way for crypto projects to legally offer their products and services in the United States. However, many companies have criticized the regulator for its inconsistent enforcement of securities laws, most recently with reports that the SEC considered classifying Ether as a security.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump’s stance on crypto has been volatile. In 2018, while he was president, he instructed his treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, to “go after” Bitcoin. In 2019, he referred to cryptocurrencies as “not money” and “based on thin air.” After leaving office in January 2021, Trump expressed the view that BTC seemed like a scam and that cryptocurrencies were potentially disastrous.
It was only in December 2022 that Trump appeared more willing to embrace digital assets. He launched a non-fungible token (NFT) collection just a few weeks after announcing his bid for reelection on November 15, 2022. After defeating other pro-crypto Republican candidates in 2023 and 2024, he announced that his campaign would accept crypto and aimed to have all remaining Bitcoin mined in the United States.
As for President Biden, there are indications that he may be softening his stance on crypto in an effort to appeal to crypto voters. After stating that he would veto an SEC rule on banks handling crypto, the White House issued a notice suggesting that he would not do the same for the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act. Although President Biden opposed the digital asset legislation, he expressed a willingness to work with Congress to establish a regulatory framework for crypto. The FIT21 Act passed with the support of 71 Democratic lawmakers and a majority of Republicans.
Analysts at Pantera Capital noted a shift in the Biden administration’s tone toward the digital asset sector, stating that there have been reports of the Biden campaign reaching out to blockchain players for guidance on crypto policy. Moe Vela, a former adviser to then-Vice President Biden, emphasized the importance for both Republican and Democratic candidates to be clear about their positions on the regulatory environment they would create. He suggested that accepting donations in digital assets was a step both candidates must take to appeal to the significant number of U.S. investors in crypto.
As the presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump approaches on June 27, the crypto industry has shown support for both candidates. Some voters who plan to vote for President Biden highlight the nonpartisan nature of crypto rather than his specific policies or cite Trump’s legal troubles. However, concerns about the future of the crypto ecosystem in the United States have been raised by those outside the country who are ineligible to vote.
The U.S. election will take place on November 5, while Trump’s sentencing in New York is scheduled for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention nominates the party’s presidential candidate. Trump faces legal consequences, including being found liable for sexual assault, convicted of 34 felony counts related to hush money payments, and held liable for fraud connected to his businesses.
Overall, crypto voters are already making an impact on the 2024 election, and this trend is expected to continue.