Ramaswamy becomes second 2024 presidential candidate to accept Bitcoin donations | World News

In a bold move, Repub­li­can pres­i­den­tial can­di­date Vivek Ramaswamy has announced his accep­tance of Bit­coin dona­tions for his cam­paign, mak­ing him the sec­ond can­di­date in the 2024 US pres­i­den­tial race to do so. Speak­ing at the Bit­coin 2023 con­fer­ence in Mia­mi, Ramaswamy urged sup­port­ers to “make the 2024 elec­tion a ref­er­en­dum on fiat currency.”

Dur­ing his speech, Ramaswamy show­cased a QR code that, when scanned, redi­rects users to a pay­ment gate­way offer­ing var­i­ous dona­tion options, includ­ing Bit­coin and satoshis—the small­est denom­i­na­tion of Bit­coin. Eli­gi­ble US cit­i­zens and per­ma­nent res­i­dents can con­tribute up to $6,600 to his cam­paign, and upon donat­ing, they will receive a non­fun­gi­ble token (NFT) as a token of appreciation.

Ramaswamy’s deci­sion to embrace Bit­coin for cam­paign dona­tions fol­lows the recent announce­ment by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who became the first US pres­i­den­tial can­di­date in his­to­ry to accept Bit­coin dona­tions. This move by polit­i­cal can­di­dates sig­nals a grow­ing recog­ni­tion of the influ­ence and poten­tial of cryp­tocur­ren­cies in shap­ing the future of finance.

The entre­pre­neur-turned-politi­cian believes that Bit­coin and oth­er cryp­tocur­ren­cies offer an alter­na­tive to tra­di­tion­al fiat cur­ren­cies, espe­cial­ly amid con­cerns about the strength and sta­bil­i­ty of the US dol­lar. By accept­ing Bit­coin dona­tions, Ramaswamy aims to demon­strate his sup­port for the dig­i­tal cur­ren­cy and his belief in its poten­tial to trans­form the finan­cial landscape.

How­ev­er, Ramaswamy clar­i­fied that he does not plan to issue his own NFTs for per­son­al prof­it or cam­paign fundrais­ing. He empha­sized that his focus is on pol­i­cy and pro­vid­ing sup­port­ers with the option to con­tribute to his cam­paign using Bit­coin, empha­siz­ing that he is not threat­ened by the dig­i­tal cur­ren­cy’s rise.

One of the core prin­ci­ples of Ramaswamy’s pro­pos­al is to ensure the free­dom to mine Bit­coin in the Unit­ed States. In recent years, the US has become a promi­nent loca­tion for Bit­coin min­ing, sur­pass­ing Chi­na after Bei­jing restrict­ed min­ing oper­a­tions due to ener­gy con­sump­tion con­cerns. How­ev­er, the Biden admin­is­tra­tion recent­ly pro­posed a 30% tax on elec­tric­i­ty used by cryp­tocur­ren­cy min­ing oper­a­tions. Ramaswamy vehe­ment­ly oppos­es this tax, stat­ing that it is wrong, unfair, and an inap­pro­pri­ate exer­cise of fed­er­al power.

To solid­i­fy his stance, Ramaswamy plans to unveil his Bit­coin pol­i­cy at the Bit­coin 2023 con­fer­ence. His pro­pos­al aims to pre­vent Bit­coin and sim­i­lar cryp­tocur­ren­cies from being treat­ed as secu­ri­ties, allow­ing them to func­tion as par­al­lel cur­ren­cies. Ramaswamy believes that this move will enable the sta­bi­liza­tion of the US dol­lar as a unit of mea­sure­ment and restrict the Fed­er­al Reserve’s man­date to focus sole­ly on cur­ren­cy stabilization.

While Ramaswamy’s Bit­coin accep­tance and pol­i­cy pro­pos­als may appeal to cryp­to enthu­si­asts and those skep­ti­cal of tra­di­tion­al finan­cial sys­tems, the wider impli­ca­tions and fea­si­bil­i­ty of such mea­sures are sub­ject to debate. As the 2024 pres­i­den­tial race unfolds, it will be inter­est­ing to see how Ramaswamy’s embrace of Bit­coin res­onates with vot­ers and whether oth­er can­di­dates will fol­low suit in rec­og­niz­ing the grow­ing influ­ence of dig­i­tal cur­ren­cies in the polit­i­cal sphere.