I honestly don't think crypto is political issue... this was the quote from Biden when he veto'd that bill:
"My Administration is eager to work with the Congress to ensure a comprehensive and balanced regulatory framework for digital assets, building on existing authorities,"
and
"Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s anti-cryptocurrency crusade is facing pressure from her own party.
Dozens of Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have broken with her in recent days and supported an effort to undo SEC guidelines that critics say discourage banks from holding digital assets."
Obviously actions speak louder than words, but I also understand that for things like blockchain, AI, emerging technologies, etc you want to try and get the regulations right so that you don't stifle innovation, but also protect the citizens from being run over.
There's a big difference between being anti-crypto and trying to make sure you get the regulation right.
I personally think that makes sense rather than rushing things in... but I also get there is a ton of nuance with these things and so I'm sure everyone's going to get angry at me for trying to point out that nuance.
Crypto is a partisan issue because I can talk to some random liberal businessman in a coffee shop who tells me they heard that "Bitcoin wastes energy" when they don't have the slightest clue as to what that energy is worth or being used for. Imagine someone saying something wastes all the energy it consumes when they don't even know what the thing does. These are the stories that the media trickles out to the public.
The propaganda used to be more effective on the right wing when drug dealers and pedophiles were the ones using Bitcoin. It's shifted in a big way since the early days.
The empty words of the Biden administration are less than worthless. They are liars. They've been actively engaged in a backhanded and unlawful crusade against crypto for a while now. Operation Choke Point 2.0 is not a made up fabrication. It's real and fully unconstitutional. Gary Gensler is an unelected bureaucrat that does the administration's bidding. He's been instructed to obstruct crypto at every turn illegally at the cost of making the SEC look either completely incompetent or corrupt. The judge's rulings against them have been absolutely shocking and embarrassing for this administration.
These people have made it abundantly clear that they don't give a shit about investors or even the citizens that elect them. The number of examples to this effect are staggering on both the left and the right. "Regulation" is a farce. They want power, control, and the money associated with it. They've meticulously calculated everything up to this point to pave the way for a Wall Street takeover of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and it's working out pretty well for them so far.
There's also so many conservatives, today, that think crypto is the Mark of the Beast (whatever that means).
Look at this survey though:
Source - It is a year old though.
Compare that to something that is a partisan issue like Environmentalism/EV ownership:
Source
I really don't think it is a partisan issue if ownership of crypto is so even across political leanings. I know heaps of people that will likely vote Biden that have crypto. Sure there is a ton of media about the energy usage of Bitcoin, but when there are reports of coal mines being restarted for Bitcoin mining, and reports of entire towns getting sick from the noise of Bitcoin miners, the anti-Bitcoin rhetoric is understandable. Bitcoin miners need to take responsibility in this too.
I absolutely agree with everything you've said about Gensler, he's been straight up bizarre.
You might be thinking more long-term and I might be more on the short-term side on this one. Crypto can't be a partisan issue on longer timeframes. This is especially true because crypto is global and affects all political parties worldwide. That and it's specifically a neutral technology by design so it makes no sense to politicize it. A party only need get bulldozed one time by technology before they realize that's not going to fly.
On the short term if very much seems as though the right is embracing crypto for easy single-issue voters, and the left is like "ew I don't like that" just out of habit taking the other side of the trade.
Yeah, I think you might be right... I do suspect that Trump is specifically tapping into a pro-crypto stance to secure the Libertarian vote away from Chase Oliver (and possibly because he's trying to drum up more money and so is accepting crypto donations now). Trump was against crypto when he was in Government, but now that he's personally benefitted from it he's changed his mind... which tracks.
I don't at all think that all Democrats oppose crypto, especially since H.R. 4763 had bipartisan support, 4 Democrat co-sponsors and passed the House of Representatives (approvals not along party lines) and probably would have passed in the Senate too... but yes, I completely agree that for single-issue crypto voters the GOP is clearly leading.
I don't actually know if Trump/GOP/Project 2025 has any policy outlined regarding crypto though. Be interesting if anything is promised during the Bitcoin convention.