Three things are for sure given Peter Thiel’s speech last week at Bitcoin 2022 in Miami…
Thiel likes Bitcoin.
And, he likes Ethereum “if it works.”
And, he also thinks the crypto community can be galvanized into supporting the Republican Party.
Today, Politico’s Stephanie Murray reports that FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame has started his own political action committee (PAC) called, “American Dream Federal Action.”
Murray quotes from a statement on the PAC’s raison d’être: “forward-looking Republican candidates who want to protect America’s long-term economic and national security” and “forward-looking conservative leaders who understand the urgency of advancing smart policies that set America up for success.”
But then on the home page for the site, “conservative” and “Republican” were omitted leaving plain ol’: “forward-looking candidates who want to protect America’s long-term economic and national security.”
Beyond the editorial theater, the message is out. Crypto is going partisan. More precisely, some of its supporters, as well as opportunists, are making it partisan. Another milestone!
The question will be how much U.S. crypto holders and their proponents listen – a notoriously free-thinking, libertarian group at its core where the last thing anybody wants is to be centralized around a single human being (Satoshi excepted, and maybe Vitalik).
Thiel laid down the gauntlet last week ascribing the “woke” descriptor – i.e. Democrat – on TradFi luminaries Warren Buffett, Larry Fink and Jamie Dimon for liking on “blockchain technology,” ESG investing and hating on Bitcoin. It’s not clear that the audience was totally buying into Thiel’s argument. But, it was entertaining and oft-quoted while potentially signaling wider efforts by Thiel and other partisan interests as fall Congressional elections approach in the U.S.