The crypto community is weighing in on what Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 U.S. presidential race could mean for web3.
On July 21, Biden disrupted the U.S. political landscape by dropping his reelection bid and throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. The move followed internal pressure from within the Democratic Party amid increasing concerns regarding Biden’s age and mental prowess, exacerbated by a disastrous debate performance and foreboding polling since.
Memecoin traders quickly responded to Biden’s withdrawal, with Jeo Boden (BODEN) crashing 58.3% since the announcement, according to CoinGecko. Jill Boden (JILLBODEN) is similarly down 83.3%, while Hunter Biden’s Laptop (LAPTOP) tumbled 46.5%.
However, the Kamala Horris (KAMA) token is up 50.8%, and Doland Tremp (TREMP) bounced 11%.
Onlookers call for Democrats to back web3
In response to the move, prominent analysts are calling for the Democratic Party to pivot toward courting crypto voters.
On July 21, the pro-crypto Cedar Innovation Foundation told Fox Business reporter, Eleanor Terrett, that Biden’s withdrawal presents an opportunity for the Democrats to support web3 innovation.
“While Secretary Gensler and Senator Warren may have misguided White House policy in the past, this is the moment to present a new vision for American innovation that keeps innovation jobs in America, ensures global competitiveness in digital assets, and heralds in a new era of financial inclusion and prosperity,” the foundation said.
Jake Chervinsky, a lawyer specializing in crypto and board member of the DeFi Education Fund, similarly tweeted that Biden stepping down presents the Democratic Party with a “huge opportunity” to vie for votes from the crypto community.
“Recent swing state polling shows that 1 in 5 registered voters view crypto as a major issue, and nearly 1 in 2 agree that they ‘don’t trust candidates that interfere with crypto’,” Chervinsky said. “Like it or not, thousands of crypto supporters are ‘single-issue voters’ who could tip this election in states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.”
Chervinsky continued that Biden was on course to lose out badly among crypto voters due to his affinity for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s despised campaign of regulation by enforcement targeting web3. However, Chervinsky noted that many Democrats recently voted in favor of the web3 sector’s interests by backing the repeal of the SEC’s controversial crypto accounting rule, SAB 121, and supporting the passage of the FIT 21 Act.
“If the Democratic Party is serious about winning this election, the new nominee must seize this opportunity,” Chervinsky said.
10x Research, a digital asset research firm, took a different stance, claiming that no incoming Democratic candidate will be able to challenge the Republican candidate and former president, Donald Trump, and predicting the end of Gary Gensler’s reign as the head of the SEC.
“Historically… the SEC chair resigned when a new administration was elected,” the firm tweeted. “Despite SEC Chair Gensler’s term ending on June 5, 2026, he will most likely resign by January/February 2025.”
Trump courts votes from crypto community
The discourse surrounding the Democratic Party follows the Trump campaign effectively courting the crypto industry for electoral support.
On May 21, Trump began accepting donations in cryptocurrency. Four days later, Trump took to social media to announce that he is “very open-minded to cryptocurrency companies and all things related to this burgeoning industry” and wants to promote the U.S. web3 industry.
In June, Trump criticized the hostile regulatory environment overseen by the Democrats, claimed to act as a “crypto President” if re-elected, and hosted Bitcoin mining executives at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump’s pro-crypto pivot was formalized in the Republican Party’s policy platform earlier this month, which promised to “champion innovation… defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets.”
While the moves have attracted support from many in the crypto community, not everyone is convinced by Trump’s newfound pro-web3 stance.
Critics highlight that Trump offered little support to web3 during his previous term, and described Bitcoin as a “scam” and the broader crypto industry as a “disaster waiting to happen” during a 2021 interview.
Last week, Ethereum’s chief scientist, Vitalik Buterin, warned voters against being easily herded by politicians claiming pro-crypto leanings. He urged onlookers to push for broader technological freedoms, including privacy of communication and access to privacy-preserving digital identity technologies.
