The Stand with Crypto coalition, which recently stopped in Wisconsin as part of a swing state tour, aims to support domestic development of cryptocurrency and inform voters about where candidates stand on this currency.
The national nonprofit group launched a little more than a year ago and spent much of September traveling to Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Its recent event in Milwaukee on Sept. 13th included a voter registration drive, speeches from both Republican and Democratic elected officials and others, and a musical performance from singer and songwriter Jessie Murph.
“We don’t endorse a particular candidate, but we are aimed at informing crypto advocates on where each political candidate stands on crypto,” coalition senior advisor Sabrina Siddiqui said in a recent interview.
The group’s website has a scorecard for every U.S. politician that tracks their voting record and any statements they have made related to cryptocurrency.
“Crypto is a new and emerging issue in the political side, and we’re trying to hold politicians accountable, and make sure that they understand the crypto voter is real, the crypto voter is bipartisan, the crypto voter is incredibly engaged,” she told WisBusiness.com.
About 640,000 Wisconsinites own some form of cryptocurrency, according to figures provided by the coalition.
This alternative form of currency uses encryption algorithms to operate outside of an authority such as a government or bank. Advocates say this allows for faster, easier transactions through a secure, decentralized framework. But the value of various cryptocurrencies can change quickly, and concerns have been raised about the substantial energy requirements for “mining” the virtual coins.
Siddiqui argues crypto advocates support politicians who “support clear rules of the road” for the technology.
“The core of the issue at hand, I would say for cryptocurrency, for bitcoin, is we don’t have clear regulations,” she said, adding the Securities and Exchange Commission has a hostile attitude toward crypto. “When you have kind of a hostile regulatory entity, and you don’t have clear regulation or rules, it’s hard for the technology to grow.”
She says the coalition’s “main fear” is that the technology will go overseas, taking jobs and opportunities with it. In hopes of avoiding that outcome, the group backs legislation to establish clear regulations for crypto. Siddiqui explained the technology isn’t limited to one industry, noting it has potential applications in health care, the arts, insurance and education, along with the financial sector.
When asked if the coalition is putting its efforts mostly toward the upcoming presidential race or legislative races, Siddiqui said “we’re focused on everything.” She said the group wants to let people know that crypto voters are “an important and new voting bloc.”
“We know that this voting bloc is the next generation of voters,” she said. “They tend to be younger, more people of color than your average voting population … They care about really specific issues, and they’re all looking for an overhaul of the financial system.”
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