Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang has been vocal about cryptocurrency for some time now. With the first ballots set to be cast in just a few days, Yang is making his final push ahead of the Iowa Caucuses, speaking with Bloomberg about several of his positions, including his thoughts on regulating digital assets.
While Yang spoke about all of the issues he cares about most, including his Freedom Dividend and Healthcare, Bloomberg host Joe Weisenthal noted he had to ask him about crypto regulation, and his plans to transform the space.
Building a consistent ecosystem is Yang’s plan. “We need to have a uniform set of rules and regulations around cryptocurrency use nationwide because right now we’re stuck with this hodgepodge of state-by-state treatments and it’s bad for everybody,” he replied. “It’s bad for innovators who want to invest in this space. So that would be my priority, is just clear and transparent rules so that everyone knows where they can head in the future and that we can maintain competitiveness. Because to me, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies is very, very high potential and we should be investing in it.”
That seems like a net positive for businesses that want to create innovation, but the idea of any regulations at all could have some crypto investors turned off. Yang dismissed their fears. “Well right now, the people who are investing in these currencies are finding a way to, you know, to do so and make use of their investments,” he said. “No, I don’t think that you could impede it with regulation if you tried.”
Sensible regulation that remains consistent across the board doesn’t sound bad, but can Yang win and pull it off? The latest odds, analyzed by our friends over at CalvinAyre, suggest it’s a long shot. The current favorites to win both Iowa and the nomination are Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
Neither Sanders nor Biden have been vocal about digital asset issues, leaving the market to speculate what each of their presidencies might mean. One outlet recently speculated that Sanders would be a net positive for crypto, as he plans to implement high speed internet service as a human right. During his 2016 campaign, some analysts predicted that if Sanders were elected, fears of a socialist collapsing the economy could result in a massive influx of money into crypto markets.
Joe Biden has even less attention from the crypto world, but policy tracking site ISideWith notes that his supporters are mostly against crypto, calling it a tool for criminals.
With all of these policy positions taken into account, the cryptocurrency community will be watching Yang closely. He may be the best candidate to build on Bitcoin sooner than later.
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