One Party Pledges to “End Crypto Crackdown” for 2024

Article by Jesse Hamilton of Coindesk

Former President Donald Trump’s Republican Party has officially adopted a platform that would seek to support cryptocurrency innovation, according to the document released Monday by the Republican National Committee.

The platform is meant to lay out the party’s priorities as presumptive presidential nominee Trump and Republican congressional candidates head into the November election, and it reflects Trump and other GOP politicians’ rising interest in digital assets.

“Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and unAmerican Crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency,” according to the document. “We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from Government Surveillance and Control.”

In recent months, Trump flipped his earlier suspicion of cryptocurrency into staunch support. He’s also had some personal experience with digital assets, having launched several of his own sets of branded non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Trump’s campaign and an affiliated political action committee also accept crypto donations.

The announcement of the committee’s new platform listed 20 of its top policy “promises” without including the crypto item, but digital assets made an appearance in the economy section under innovation initiatives.

Opposition to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) has been a popular talking point for Trump and other Republicans on the 2024 campaign trail. As other jurisdictions – including China and Europe – have pursued the idea of government-backed digital tokens, the U.S. hasn’t moved beyond the research phase.

Republicans have accused Democrats of pushing for CBDCs that will allow greater financial surveillance of U.S. citizens. However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other government officials have insisted that such a theoretical digital dollar would be managed by the banking system, not the government. And Fed officials have said it won’t be adopted without approval from Congress and the White House.