US President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador hold a meeting in New York, on … [+]
It may initially seem like an oxymoron – politicians that embrace pro-Bitcoin positions. Former President Trump is the most famous for claiming the mantle of a pro-Bitcoin politician. Or perhaps it is the current President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
Yet there is now a new generation of politicians who are running to turn their countries more pro-Bitcoin and who have their roots in the Bitcoin community from Suriname to Europe – joining established politicians who have made it known that they hold pro-Bitcoin sympathies.
Bitcoin doesn’t need politicians – it doesn’t need elites to continue doing what it does best – creating blocks of transactions sent worldwide without a custodian required in between. Yet the game theory aspect of Bitcoin is running – one that promises outsize rewards for early adopters along with a heavy dose of risk – bringing politicians and political candidates to support Bitcoin.
The case of Maya Prabhoe in Suriname is a prime example of a political candidate of Bitcoin roots. She has promised that Suriname will soon use Bitcoin as its official currency and that everybody in the country will be paid Bitcoin. She’s been grassroots-building Bitcoin adoption through conferences and meetups and encouraging Bitcoin adoption among merchants. She has also started crowdfunding in Bitcoin for her campaign.
“We need to make Bitcoin legal tender in Suriname,” she explains in an interview with Forbes. She’s running under a new political party called 597, which is the country code of Suriname in the pursuit of “[separating] money from the state, not just in one country, but globally.”
Jair Tjon and Tachana Dalger of Suriname carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony of … [+]
Her origin story – she was a “Bitcoiner before I ever decided to run in these elections.” The reason why she’s running? “It’s Samson’s fault.” – Samson Mow of JAN3, an organization dedicated to advancing hyperbitcoinization, with a penchant for securing partnerships with governments.
The story is similar to recent candidates who are running under a pro-Bitcoin lens that come from the community, such as a candidate in the French elections, who comes from a Bitcoin-only perspective. While Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s campaign for President revolved around more than just Bitcoin, he was quoted as saying, “I hope President Trump’s commitment to Bitcoin is more than political expediency” and that he had an “orange heart,” along with unveiling specific pro-Bitcoin policies.
And it’s not just individual political candidates – entire parties are orienting around the movement. The Republican Party has changed its platform, as its standard-bearer, Donald Trump, has oriented around Bitcoin and “crypto.” However, this fidelity seems to be focused on “crypto” rather than Bitcoin itself, and the Trump campaign has used their own token World Liberty Finance, with mostly Ethereum returned, to raise funds.
However, some elected politicians are also joining from a pro-Bitcoin lens that doesn’t involve money-raising in “crypto” – from speaking at Bitcoin events to establishing ownership. Joana Cotar, who is a member of the German Parliament, has spoken about her desire to get Germany to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender. This kind of movement now worries central banks such as the ECB, whose analysis is that pro-Bitcoin politicians might be “captured” to generate more inequality. Yet, in practice, it hasn’t been politicians who are garnering large donations in Bitcoin – but rather those who were committed to the cause already. Voices like Cotar’s help push some balance in the discussion about Bitcoin, in a world where governments are still quick to sell it.
Countries like Bhutan and Ethiopia are now part of the global hash rate that secures Bitcoin mining, turning their energy reserves into digital money accepted worldwide.
No matter what you think about Bitcoin, it has no explicit political ideology. Yet, for Bitcoin to become a global world reserve currency, there will have to be a bending of political will- still, Bitcoin only plays in some places regarding nation-states. With the recent price momentum, there is a new foundation – countries and political candidates running on a pro-Bitcoin platform and participating in Bitcoin adoption. This sort of movement may be unique to the moment Bitcoin finds itself in now as it continues to mature before our eyes.