By Michael Scott
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that reelecting Joe Biden is a catastrophic ending of Bitcoin. Speaking in a Twitter Spaces conversation with Elon Musk, the Republican presidential nominee reiterated his stance as a Bitcoin advocate.
US Presidential Candidate DeSantis Affirms Affection for Bitcoin
The conversation held on Wednesday, May 24, featured entrepreneur David Sacks as the moderator, where the Republican portrayed affection for Bitcoin and digital assets success.
While the conversation suffered technical challenges, it ran well through thirty minutes after the scheduled time. By then, hundreds of thousands of users admitted to audio stream glitches and crashing apps. The chat advanced as planned, with DeSantis integrating his pro-advocacy for the lead coin Bitcoin at the tail end.
DeSantis portrayed support for Bitcoin, alleging civil liberties and repeated attempts by the opponents to restrict crypto. He considered the action government overreach, arguing the inspiration for the restriction is the awareness they lack control over it.
DeSantis Support Pronouncements by Kennedy Jr. – Democratic Presidential Nominee
DeSantis’s remarks during the Twitter Space conversations mirror the pronouncement by the Democratic presidential nominee Robert Kennedy Jr. Kennedy heralded bitcoin in the previous week.
The Democrats termed the decentralization offered by Bitcoin as illustrative of democracy often disliked by the authoritarians. The remarks underscore the 2024 election season that is getting underway.
DeSantis echoed his Democrat rival Kennedy Jr. during the Wednesday evening conversation. He decried the Biden-led administration for deploying regulatory enforcement actions retrogressive in nature to the digital assets industry. He criticized the enforcement actions confronted by digital assets in 2023 as invalid attempts by the government to purge cryptos to preserve the interests of those enjoying power.
Bitcoin Perceived as Threat to Dethrone Centralized Schemes
DeSantis illustrated Bitcoin as a threat to dethrone centralized schemes, hence the need to regulate the lead coin out of existence. He pledged to oppose attempts by Congress to institute a ban on Bitcoin through new legislation.
DeSantis warned the audience that reelecting the Biden-led administration would amount to strangling Bitcoin. He added that the current regime portrayed devotion to trimming Bitcoin’s potential and was likely to kill it if voted to continue for four years.
The conversation’s moderator David Sacks observed that Twitter harbors a huge crypto audience to signal a switch to crypto. The remark prompted Musk to interject and indicate an audience for Dogecoin exists on Twitter too.
DeSantis Opposes Move to Issue Government-Backed Cryptos in Florida
DeSantis integrated the previous stance to oppose the introduction of central bank digital currency (CBDC). In support of the statements issued by representative Tom Emmer, he considered it prudent to pursue a ban prohibiting the government-backed cryptos in Florida.
DeSantis likened CBDCs to the stablecoin whose value is pegged to a sovereign fiat currency such as the US dollar. Unlike private companies such as Tether and Circle, the governments and central banks exercise CBDC’s management and control.
DeSantis pointed out the recent admission by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that Congress would ideally issue written approval to the CBDC. The Florida Governor dismissed such a possibility by indicating such wiggle room and that he would vehemently oppose such a move.
DeSantis Invalidates Move to Issue CBDC, Alleging Threat Posed by Centralizing Authority
DeSantis declared that such authorization lies with the Congress. He ruled out the possibility of pursuing the central bank digital currency if elected President.
DeSantis buttressed his previous position that CBDC is vulnerable to exploitation by the authority. He demonstrated purchases considered politically unfavorable from the perspective of the party controlling the tech would be curtailed, likely citing environmental issues or hindering firearm sales.
DeSantis indicated that CBDC portrays a move where individual consumers cede power to the central authority. He added that the resulting power transfer contradicts the principles of a free society, a reason for opposing the CBDC.’