Vitalik Buterin, as Other Crypto Leaders Line Up Behind Trump, Argues Against Picking Candidates Just Because They Like Crypto

Ethereum
co-founder
Vitalik
Buterin,
as
other
prominent
cryptocurrency
leaders
vocally
support
Donald
Trump’s
run
for
U.S.
president,

argued
against
supporting
candidates
purely
based
on
whether
they
are
“pro-crypto.”

“By
publicly
giving
the
impression
that
you
support
‘pro-crypto’
candidates
just
because
they
are
‘pro-crypto,’
you
are
helping
to
create
an
incentive
gradient
where
politicians
come
to
understand
that
all
they
need
to
get
your
support
is
to
support
‘crypto,'”
Buterin
posted
on
his
blog
Wednesday.

“There
is
a
growing
push
within
the
crypto
space
to
become
more
politically
active,
and
favor
political
parties
and
candidates
almost
entirely
on
whether
or
not
they
are
willing
to
be
lenient
and
friendly
to
‘crypto,'”
Buterin
added.
“In
this
post,
I
argue
against
this
trend,
and
in
particular
I
argue
that
making
decisions
in
this
way
carries
a
high
risk
of
going
against
the
values
that
brought
you
into
the
crypto
space
in
the
first
place.”

The
comments
from
Buterin,
widely
viewed
as
Ethereum’s
intellectual
leader,
stand
in
stark
contrast
to
the
strongly
pro-Trump
rhetoric
from
other
well-known
crypto
figures.

Ryan
Selkis,
the
co-founder
of
crypto
information
platform
Messari,
has
been
especially
vocal,

calling
himself
a
“single
issue
voter”
–
meaning
he
prefers
Trump
over
the
incumbent,
Joe
Biden,
because
Trump
says
he
likes
crypto.
Selkis
appeared
at
a
recent
Mar-a-Lago
gala
where
Trump

touted
his
NFT
collection
and
talked
about
his
newfound
friendliness
toward
digital
assets.

Coinbase,
the
large
U.S.-based
crypto
exchange,
has
emerged
as
a
major
force
in
political
donations
this
year,
with
its

Fairshake
PAC.
The
crypto
industry
now
sports
one
of
the

biggest
piles
of
money
to
sway
elections
–
with
wins

already
notched.
At
its
core,
this
is
about
electing
politicians
who
will
make
the
U.S.
an
easier
place
for
crypto
businesses
to
operate.

Read
more:



Crypto
Giants
Notch
Wins
in
Expensive
Quest
to
Sway
U.S.
Politics
–
Without
Mentioning
Crypto

On
X,
Selkis

blasted
Buterin
for
the
post.
“I
respect
Vitalik
but
he
has
always
been
among
the
most
naive
and
useless
political
commentators
in
crypto.
Idealism
is
not
realism,
and
he
pretends
we
aren’t
dealing
with
a
cultural
cancer
and
infestation
of
Marxism.
He’s
wrong.”

UPDATE
(July
17,
2024,
21:24
UTC):

Adds
comments
from
Ryan
Selkis.