During the US midterm elections pro-crypto and blockchain candidates have done overwhelmingly well. The results show that no pro-crypto and blockchain candidates lost their seat, and a handful of seats were actually taken by pro-crypto and blockchain candidates. In Colorado Jared Polis – blockchain friendly governor candidate – won with 51% of the votes to claim his new position, and in California Gavin Newsom took 59% of the votes to claim the governor’s seat. These two new crypto and blockchain friendly positions within the US political system go down as big wins for the industry.
Shuffling the Blockchain Caucus
The Blockchain Caucus will require some work to balance out the members, as Jared Polis leaves congress to settle down in his new governorship role out in Colorado. While the Caucus has yet to announce any new members, we are expecting the current member count of 18 to rise to around 25 members. The Caucus doesn’t yet have any female representatives, so hopefully this midterm shakeup will correct the gender imbalance.
Sherman Clinging onto His Seat
Brad Sherman – Democratic representative from the San Fernando Valley, LA – has been sitting in congress since 1997, making him one of the longest-serving congressmen in active service. This is bad news for the crypto world as Sherman abhors blockchain and technology – there is a good chance he still uses a Blackberry given how he often speaks. There was heavy campaigning in his district from the younger generation, but Sherman took 74% of the votes to comfortably remain in his seat.
Colorado to Become a Blockchain Hub
In his campaign, Polis promised to turn Colorado into a blockchain innovation hub and push the next generation of technology forwards. This is great news for all Coloradans as this new industry will bring thousands of jobs to the state if Polis can manage to push some of the regulations through.
Winklevoss Betting Big on Newsom
The “crypto twins” had a horse in the race in the form of Gavin Newsom. The pair had donated just shy of $120,000 to his campaign in a hope they would see a crypto-friendly governor in California. Newsom was an early adopter of Bitcoin – just like the Winklevoss twins – but he barely promoted crypto and blockchain as part of his platform. This could be due to the crypto donation rules in California being noticeably strict.
Bitcoin Donations Rolling in
A whole host of candidates decided to accept cryptos, but not all were permitted by their state’s donation committee. California took a hard stance against crypto donations and said they aren’t acceptable, along with a handful of other states. Despite this, Andrew Yang – Presidential candidate for 2020 – is still accepting donations in cryptocurrencies via his website. Donors need to complete some standard know your customer (KYC) checks before being able to donate.
America’s future in crypto and blockchain is starting to look more promising, and this shakeup is giving the crypto community hope. With only two years to go before the next election, pro-crypto and blockchain candidates will be quick to get to work in order to secure their seats for another session of congress.
