Crypto billionaire Cameron Winklevoss has warned that the ongoing war on cryptocurrencies led by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Head of the SEC Gary Gensler could alienate a whole generation of potential Democratic voters. According to him, crypto has already won the hearts and minds of Millennials and Gen Z, and they are unlikely to forget the negative impacts caused by these regulators.
The Winklevoss twins, who co-founded the crypto exchange Gemini in 2014, have been long-time Bitcoin enthusiasts and have advocated for a $500,000 bitcoin price point in the past. Although Cameron has supported Republican candidates before, his recent statements highlight his concerns towards the hostile approach taken by Warren and Gensler.
Senator Warren has become notorious for her relentless attacks on the crypto industry, even establishing an “Anti Crypto Army.” She has also criticized cryptocurrencies for funding criminal activities, such as the deadly fentanyl trade. Meanwhile, Gensler’s SEC has been making headlines for charging prominent crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Binance with breaking U.S. securities laws.
Cameron Winklevoss believes that either the Democratic establishment does not understand the implications of Warren and Gensler’s actions on the upcoming elections, or they are grossly miscalculating their impact on the youth vote. He cited a CNN headline from 2022 indicating that the young people helped the Democrats avoid defeat in the previous election cycle. Forcing stringent regulations on crypto, he suggests, could backfire on the party.
However, not all Democrats share Warren and Gensler’s anti-crypto sentiment. Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., for instance, is a pro-Bitcoin advocate and was a keynote speaker at the recent Bitcoin 2023 conference. On the other hand, Republicans have shown more openness towards cryptocurrencies. Wyoming senator Cynthia Lummis, known as the “Bitcoin Senator,” has been a Bitcoin proponent for years. Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is considered “crypto-friendly,” and Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis has even outlawed Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in his state.
With a Coinbase report stating that around 66 million Americans (or 20% of the population) own digital assets, the potential implications of stringent crypto regulations on the ballot cannot be underestimated. Cameron Winklevoss warns that while some politicians may not care about crypto itself, they certainly will care about losing votes from the younger generation. As the debate around crypto regulations continues to heat up, it remains to be seen how the future of the industry will unfold and how it will affect the political landscape in the United States.
Source: Decrypt
