Source: CoinWorld
Author: Web3 Sniff Observation
After Republican candidate Trump appointed Vance as his running mate, US Vice President Harris announced on August 6 local time that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would be his running mate, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. After that, the two will compete against Trump and Vance in the 2024 US presidential election.
For crypto investors around the world, in addition to PolitiFi and the Meme coin shill by the leaders of both parties, the attitude of the successful candidates towards Web3 and crypto assets is also the highlight of this round of elections. It is worth noting that Waltz himself enacted relevant legislation to strengthen the regulation of cryptocurrencies during his tenure as governor of Minnesota.
In contrast, Waltz's opponent, Republican candidate James David Vance, clearly has a more positive attitude towards crypto assets, and Trump himself recently stated at the Bitcoin 2024 conference that if elected, he would make Bitcoin a national reserve asset.
Who is Waltz? Why is he a potential candidate for the US vice president? If Harris is elected, will his policies have a significant negative impact on the global crypto community?
1. Compared with his Republican opponent Vance, does Waltz's rural background make him more politically correct?
A quick look at Waltz's background and resume reveals that his rural identity label is perhaps what the Democratic Party values most.
Waltz, 60, was born in rural Nebraska and moved to Mankato, Minnesota, as a teenager, where he taught social sciences at a high school and coached the school's football team, leading the team to the state championship. He retired from the National Guard in 2005 and began his first run for public office.
In 2006, Waltz defeated Republican Gil Gutknecht and was successfully elected to the House of Representatives. During his 12 years in the House of Representatives, he accumulated rich connections and experience in the Agriculture Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Veterans Affairs Committee. In November 2018, Waltz defeated Republican candidate Jeff Johnson and was elected Governor of Minnesota.
Born in the countryside and after entering politics, he served in the Agriculture Committee and served in the military. This series of experiences is similar to that of the Republican Vance. It is not difficult to see that this is the key factor in Waltz's selection as Harris' running mate, because rural areas and the corresponding Rust Belt are Trump's base. Vance, who came from the bottom of the countryside and wrote the book "Hillbilly Elegy", became the vice presidential candidate, which further strengthened Trump's influence on his base. Within the Democratic Party, Harris lacks a base of rural voters and voters in remote areas, and to some extent can make up for her shortcomings with the help of Waltz.
2. Waltz becomes the running mate of the presidential candidate, and his corresponding propositions may send a special signal
As we all know, in the US presidential election, the candidate's deputy is crucial. Once the candidate wins the election, his deputy will naturally take over the position of vice president of the United States. In addition, the vice president not only plays an important role in administrative affairs, but also has a significant impact on the president's policy formulation and implementation. Therefore, Waltz's attitude towards crypto assets may have a considerable impact on the industry.
Waltz positions himself as a pragmatist who hopes to strike a balance between strong union relations, job creation, and innovation. However, as a representative force in the Democratic camp, Waltz has shown a clear preference for the clean energy industry, and his attitude towards high-energy-consuming industries such as POW mining may be relatively conservative. During his tenure as governor of Minnesota, he implemented one of the most progressive energy policies in the country in the state, and the bill signed last year required the state to transition to 100% clean energy by 2040.
According to Cointelegraph, Waltz advocates strict regulation of cryptocurrencies, believes that the U.S. government should impose stricter regulation on the use of cryptocurrencies, and does not support the proposal to classify crypto assets as a legal form of payment. Of course, Waltz's attitude towards Cryptopip is not completely negative, and he does not think that the use of cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments should be completely banned. Judging from the few direct statements Waltz has made about the crypto world, his attitude is generally more negative than that of Vance and Trump, but there is still room for improvement. As for how much room there is, it will take time to observe.
Of course, Harris, who is in the C position in the Democratic Party, has a real key to her attitude towards Crypto. Public sources show that Harris has not made a clear statement on crypto assets, and she herself has not been involved in crypto investment. Compared with the Biden administration's high-intensity regulatory policy on crypto, Harris's position is slightly vague.
It is worth noting that Harris’ supporters include senior crypto professionals, such as well-known Web3 investor Mark Cuban, managing partner and founder of SV Angel (Coinbase and OpenSea investor) Ron Conway, and partner of Founders Circle Capital (Robinhood and FalconX investor) Ryan Morrison, etc. According to US media reports, Harris’ team secretly contacted representatives of the country’s leading Web3 companies at the end of last month, including Coinbase, Circle and Ripple Labs.
3. Getting close to Crypto and relaxing regulations will become the main theme, and the election results cannot shake this trend
There is no doubt that Crypto is unstoppable, especially in the United States. So no matter who is elected, the United States' attitude towards the cryptocurrency circle is likely to loosen further, because the crypto circle has an increasing penetration rate among grassroots voters and big capital in the United States, and has even gradually become an indispensable part of the financial system. According to Coinbase data, there are at least 52 million cryptocurrency owners in the United States, accounting for more than 15% of the total population. Of course, this number is still growing. As Trump said at the campaign rally, the United States must seize the dominance of Web3 and Crypto and not allow this field to fall into the hands of others.
In addition, the results of the election will not affect optimists' expectations for subsequent market trends.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, said in a recent media interview that it doesn’t matter who wins the 2024 election to the crypto industry. The new government will continue to “print money” after taking office, although the methods will be different, but the cryptocurrency market will ultimately benefit.
