2024: The Year Crypto Took Center Stage in Politics – Crypto
Punjab News
I certainly didn’t foresee the political developments of the past few weeks, but then again, who could have? However, one thing I regret not recognizing earlier is how significantly this has evolved into a crypto-focused election.

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Six years ago, I contended that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies lacked practical utility, asserting that their market value was based on speculation.
“technobabble and libertarian derp.” I stand by that judgment, which has been reinforced by time.
However, I didn’t anticipate the magnitude of influence that cryptocurrency would ultimately wield—not because it has succeeded in its promise to replace traditional currency, which it has not and likely never will, but because it has emerged as a formidable force that is, among other things, distorting our political landscape.
What is crypto? Donald Trump recently said, “Most people have no idea what the hell it is.” Indeed. Even now, it’s hard to explain what bitcoin and other crypto assets are.
But this may help: Who guarantees that the money in my bank account belongs to me? Why can’t the bank tell me, “Sorry, we used that money to pay other people”? The answer is that doing so would be illegal.
Bitcoin and its counterparts aim to bypass the necessity of a legal framework by implementing a technological solution that operates independently of the centralized record-keeping typically provided by banks. You “own” a Bitcoin if you have access to a code that effectively turns a seemingly meaningless string of ones and zeros into a message that says, in effect, “I am a Bitcoin,” in much the same way that numerical keys can unlock encrypted communications.
These keys are produced through a process known as “mining,” which involves utilizing extensive networks of computer servers to tackle highly complex computational challenges. This method is expensive and demands a significant amount of electricity, resulting in considerable greenhouse gas emissions.
I’ve been told that it’s a rather clever system. However, what exact problem does it solve that could not be addressed more effectively and cost-efficiently through other methods? Over the years, I have attended many meetings where skeptics have raised this question to crypto advocates, yet I have yet to hear a compelling answer.
Moreover, cryptocurrency has yet to demonstrate any signs of replacing traditional currency. Since the inception of Bitcoin, digital payment platforms that avoid the complexities of crypto like Venmo and Apple Pay have become commonplace. For most of us, crypto assets serve minimal purposes beyond trading for other cryptocurrencies; notable exceptions include their use in money laundering, extortion, and scams.
In 2021, El Salvador thrilled crypto enthusiasts by making Bitcoin legal tender, yet three years later, the cryptocurrency sees minimal use in everyday transactions.
Still, could the argument that crypto is useless be countered by the fact that crypto assets now exceed a market value of $2 trillion? Not at all. This wouldn’t be the first or even the hundredth time that persuasive operators with a captivating narrative have convinced investors to invest significant amounts in ultimately worthless assets.
What’s truly remarkable is cryptocurrency’s resilience; Bitcoin and its counterparts have managed to rebound from numerous market crashes and scandals.
My guess is that crypto’s robustness has a lot to do with its incomprehensibility: It’s hard to conclude that someone was misleading you when you never understood what was being said in the first place. Also, crypto isn’t like a company with a well-defined bottom line: “Hey, this company is still losing money” is easier to understand than “Hey, these so-called currencies still aren’t being used for everyday transactions.”
Ultimately, cryptocurrency has been aggressively promoted to retail investors—remember those Super Bowl commercials?—who typically wouldn’t, and arguably shouldn’t, be investing in such speculative assets.
But what implications does this have for politics? Support for cryptocurrency does not neatly align along partisan lines; there are still some Democrats who speak positively about the technology. However, the Biden-Harris administration has generally favored regulating crypto assets similarly to regulating other securities, such as stocks, and treating crypto institutions that operate like banks with the same regulations as traditional banks.
In response, the crypto sector has reacted reminiscent of fossil fuel industries when Democrats began prioritizing environmental issues, choosing to lend substantial support to Republican candidates. This strategy appears to be yielding results: the 2024 GOP platform asserts, “Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American Crypto crackdown,” referring to their intent to prevent regulators from treating crypto assets and institutions in the same manner as stocks and banks. Trump has pledged to reverse…
This situation presents a troubling scenario in which an industry initially motivated by libertarian principles, yet one that has consistently failed to deliver on its economic promises, might still manage to secure a significant government bailout.
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