The Crypto Candidate That Could Have Been: Ramaswamy’s Bold Vision Cut Short

In a surprise announcement on January 16th, 2024, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his crypto-centric campaign after failing to garner meaningful support in the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy, who secured just 8% of the Iowa vote, conceded during his speech that “there’s no path for me to be the next president.”

Keypoints

• Vivek Ramaswamy, a pro-crypto Republican candidate for US president, has dropped out of the 2024 race after getting just 8% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses.
• Ramaswamy was the only candidate with a clear crypto policy framework, which included exempting developers from liability, providing regulatory clarity, and preventing limits on self-hosted wallets.
• He criticized SEC chair Gary Gensler for failing to determine whether Ether should be considered a security, calling the lack of clarity “embarrassing.”
• Ramaswamy has now thrown his support behind former president Donald Trump, endorsing him as the “America First” candidate.
• He owns between $100k-250k in Bitcoin and $15k-50k in Ether, demonstrating his personal investment in crypto.

Ramaswamy gained notoriety as the only presidential candidate to release a clear policy vision for cryptocurrency regulation. This framework, titled “The Three Freedoms of Crypto,” included concrete plans to limit liability for crypto developers, provide unambiguous guidelines on new digital currencies, and restrict federal agencies from instituting bans on self-hosted wallets. His policy outline was lauded by the crypto community as a bold attempt to restrain excessive government control.

Live from Des Moines, IA | Vivek 2024 Caucus Night Press Conference https://t.co/ykH9wRlSKL

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 16, 2024

Throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy frequently criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), chaired by Gary Gensler, for its failure to provide clear regulatory classifications of major cryptocurrencies. He called the SEC’s reluctance to definitively label the status of Ether, the second-largest crypto asset, as “nothing short of embarrassing.” Ramaswamy argued that this rampant ambiguity gave unchecked power to regulators and stifled innovation. He contended that setting precise definitions of whether a digital currency constitutes a security or commodity should be a top priority for leadership.

In his concession speech, Ramaswamy threw his weight behind former president Donald Trump, who himself has vaguely praised Bitcoin but shown little policy interest in crypto. Ramaswamy will reportedly join Trump at an upcoming New Hampshire rally to discuss their shared “America First” vision. As an investor with up to $250,000 in Bitcoin and $50,000 in Ether, Ramaswamy has real skin in the game when it comes to sensible cryptocurrency regulation.

The collapse of Ramaswamy’s White House bid demonstrates the continued challenges outsider candidates face in shaking up the two-party stronghold. However, his unapologetic style of directly confronting bureaucratic failures struck a chord with both Republican voters and the crypto community. His enduring legacy may be drawing further mainstream attention to the need for clearer guardrails to unleash American blockchain innovation. While Ramaswamy may have fallen short this election cycle, his substantive proposals could very well shape the crypto regulatory environment in the critical years to come.