The #YangGang movement now welcomes the cryptoverse into the fold, as 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang has released a crypto platform that, if elected, Yang would use to push for clarity and innovation in America’s nook of the cryptoeconomy.
Presently a dark horse candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, Yang is facing a stacked field of contenders that he hopes gain ground against during the forthcoming primary and caucus season.
It’s then that Democratic voters will elect their proposed alternative to the Republican Party’s 2020 nominee, which will presumably be Donald Trump. Yang, an entrepreneur, has gained recent poll traction from his call to institute a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 USD per citizen in the U.S.
The candidate, who’s now polling at 3 percent nationally per a recent Emerson poll, is set to partake in upcoming 2020 presidential debates wherein he can publicly set forth his pro-crypto ideas, which he’s outlined in a new landing page on his campaign website.
Therein, Yang pledged to back a federal approach to cryptocurrencies that would override the patchwork state-level regulations that have ruled in America to date:
“Currently, different departments of the federal government consider digital assets as property, commodities, or securities. Some states have onerous regulations in the space, such as NY’s BitLicense. Navigating this has had a chilling effect on the US digital asset market.
It’s time for the federal government to create clear guidelines as to how cryptocurrencies/digital asset markets will be treated and regulated so that investment can proceed with all relevant information.”
The pronouncement marks the clearest outlining to date of a 2020 presidential candidate’s crypto platform — no other 2020 contender, Democrat or Republican, has released a crypto platform as explicit and friendly as Yang’s.
Neeraj Agrawal, the communications head of non-profit crypto research and advocacy group Coin Center, remarked that Yang’s emphasis on digital assets was welcomed:
“We are happy to see that Mr. Yang is taking the issues facing cryptocurrency developers and users seriously. He has identified the most pressing issues affecting this technology and seems have come to the right conclusions on how to best address them.”
Yang’s proposed manner of addressing the tech is to embrace it head on, as he’s said the blockchain, and its resulting tech, bears “vast potential.” The 2020 presidential hopeful also pledged to work with congressional backers of the Token Taxonomy Act and with Wyoming policymakers to move toward an increasingly crypto-friendly environment in the U.S.
Yang’s Not the Only Crypto Dabbler in 2020 Race
Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination back in January. And while she’s yet to outline a systematic crypto platform like Yang, she’s no stranger to the space.
That’s because the politico’s 2017 financial disclosure forms revealed she had purchased both ether (ETH) and litecoin (LTC) in that year, notably when the cryptoeconomy was in the midst of a potent bull market.
To that end, behind Yang, Gabbard is the closest candidate to the cryptoeconomy. So while it’s unlikely for crypto to be a major political topic in the American mainstream next year, it’s possible that America’s cryptocurrency stakeholders will increasingly rally around Yang — and to a lesser degree Gabbard — as election season moves closer.
Another 2020 hopeful, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, has said during a previous congressional hearing that “we [should] be thinking about how to secure [cryptocurrencies].” That’s far from a wholesale embrace of the crypto ecosystem, but it’s also considerably more than many Democratic and Republican candidates have offered on the subject.
What is clear is that U.S. voters who consider crypto to be among their top voting concerns may have to rally behind electoral underdogs if they want to further their cause.
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In 2017, Tulsi purchased shares in both Litecoin and Ethereum, two blockchain currencies similar to Bitcoin.
Tulsi is an original cosponsor of H.R.2144 – Token Taxonomy Act of 2019. For details, check out: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2144/text
“In Hawai’i and across America, local and state leaders are looking at the potential for blockchain technology to create and expand economic opportunity,” Gabbard said.
The Token Taxonomy Act, she added, will not only protect investors and foster innovation, but promote new business opportunities that “allow more diverse districts like mine to have greater security when participating in the digital economy.”
Tulsi was reappointed in 1/2019 to the Financial Services. That means Gabbard will be involved in more oversight of the banking industry in general.