Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, warned the crypto community in a recent tweet not to be fooled by pro-crypto politicians.
Buterin says politicians may not fully understand crypto and may prioritize other issues when push comes to shove.
He argues that voters should consider a candidate's stance on broader issues like privacy and digital rights.
Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, disagrees with Buterin, believing that supporting pro-crypto candidates is a good strategy.
Peter van Valkenburgh says it is important to focus on long-term issues like privacy and the rule of law because "politicians come and go."
Crypto and regulatory pressure have been key issues in the US, especially in light of the upcoming elections.
Certain politicians have seen this gap and capitalized on it, claiming to be "pro-crypto" and rallying thousands of supporters.
However, amid the hype of an incoming "pro-crypto president, " Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has warned the crypto community not to be fooled.
Several things can go wrong when choosing a president based on their promises or stance before elections, and it is important to consider other factors besides mere support for crypto.
Here are all the details of Buterin’s ideas.
Vitalik Buterin penned these ideas in a recent blog post, asking the crypto community to be wary of politicians who publicly endorse crypto without understanding what it is or how it works.
Buterin's blog post is dated 17 July and is titled “Against choosing your political allegiances based on who is ‘pro-crypto,’”
In the post, Buterin urged the community to consider a candidate's promises carefully before deciding whether they deserve votes.
According to Buterin, this is important because some candidates come out as "pro-crypto" without understanding or taking a stand on other critical issues like "privacy in communications, digital identity, and access to information."
“The game of politics is much more complicated than just ‘who wins the next election" […].
In particular, by publicly giving the impression that you support "pro-crypto" candidates just because they are "pro-crypto", you are helping […] politicians come to understand that all they need to get your support is to support ‘crypto’"
Buterin also referenced Coinbase's “Stand With Crypto” campaign in the US.
The Ethereum founder noted that it might not be so sensible how the group's criteria for whether a candidate deserves the votes is whether they are"pro- or anti-crypto”.
“The ‘key bills’ that StandWithCrypto tracks. There is no attempt made whatsoever to judge politicians on freedoms related to cryptography and technology that go beyond cryptocurrency.” Buterin explained.
He also mentioned Russia's stance on crypto.
Recall the heat of the Russo-Ukraine war, when the country supported crypto to evade sanctions but completely turned against it when it made citizens better able to avoid surveillance efforts.
This selectiveness towards crypto, according to Buterin, shows the dangers of supporting politicians based on what they say about crypto alone.
However, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, disagreed with Buterin's stance.
In a recent tweet, Hoskinson publicly attacked the Ethereum co-founder, arguing that the crypto community should adopt a voting strategy geared toward supporting pro-crypto candidates.
“Politics is a game of cause and effect." Hoskinson explained, "If politicians understand that bullying and harassing our industry translates to lost elections, they suddenly avoid doing that.”
In the end, Peter van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, noted in a tweet that "Politicians will come and go."
However, what remains is that privacy, speech, and the rule of law must be preserved.
While Buterin's stance doesn't directly mention any one candidate, it emphasizes the need to think carefully before casting votes and not rely only on what a candidate says about crypto.
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