The Cryptocurrency Informer

(00:37) The big story this week isn’t (exactly) crypto related, but is too big to ignore on this week’s episode. The United States is currently in the midst of a presidential election, and it’s certainly been one to remember. As of recording, the fate of the election hinges on four states: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada – all four states that the former Vice President Joe Biden currently has a lead in. It seems as though the writing is on the wall – it’s very likely that Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States.

So, how does this relate to cryptocurrency? Of course, neither Biden nor Trump included any type of cryptocurrency related issue in their presidential platform. Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen discussed her admiration for Bitcoin, but it wasn’t a part of her platform either. Cryptocurrency is more and more becoming mainstream, but it’s not at that point yet…unfortunately. The only democratic candidate that mentioned cryptocurrency during the primary elections was Andrew Yang. However, with mainstream adoption continuing at its current rapid pace, we are likely to see an intersection between politics and cryptocurrency sooner than later.

(01:32) There are a few notable ways we can link this election cycle and crypto/blockchain. A number of Senate seats are up for grabs in this election, and some of those senators have either a cryptocurrency related past, or are actively involved in shaping crypto and blockchain related legislation. GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler, for example – is the former CEO of the crypto exchange Bakkt. Her involvement with cryptocurrency is undeniable, but her time in Congress has yielded zero actual legislation or even mention of crypto. Coindesk has a great extensive list of all of the current Senate and House races involving candidates with some sort of cryptocurrency or blockchain relation, so be sure to check that out if you are interested. Some of these candidates are pro-crypto and blockchain while some could be considered anti-crypto and blockchain – realistically though, the majority of these politicians probably don’t know a ton about the world of crypto.

(02:31) The next way we can link this election discussion to cryptocurrency is the discussion of utilizing blockchain technology to vote. Realistically, any type of widespread implementation of this is a long way away – however, there are certainly proponents of it, and those proponents are using this point in history to make their voices heard. That’s primarily because this election had a record number of mail-in ballots due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – those mail in ballots have proven to take an increasingly long time to count. Of course, in such a big election, this delay has put many on both sides of the isle on edge.

Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss said on Twitter “The technology and cryptography exists to allow us all to vote online in a fraud-proof manner. We could all know the outcome instantly and w/ mathematical certainty. Yet voting entails paper ballot & requires in person or snail mail casting. It’s as if the Internet doesn’t exist.” Cointelegraph reports that “Binance’s chief executive Changpeng Zhao or CZ and Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin are in furious agreement that a new blockchain-based voting system is required to improve democratic processes in the United States.”

Of course, any advocate for crypto and blockchain adoption would want to see these great technologies utilized to replace a fairly antiquated process – but how realistic is it? Are these vocal advocates letting their love of the technology get in the way of logic? Is the hype real? It is certainly a worthy discussion to have, but that deep dive is out of the realm of today’s episode. However, it’s important to be realistic – let’s listen to cryptographic experts and cyber security experts before we ascribe blockchain to be the savior of modern-day voting.

(04:07) Finally, it can’t be ignored that during this election, BTC is absolutely skyrocketing in price. In the beginning of October, Bitcoin was around $10,500. At the beginning of November, Bitcoin was around $13,800. As of recording, Bitcoin is a bit over $15,500 – and had briefly come close to hitting $16,000 earlier in the day. So, is this excellent spike related to the US election? It’s tough to pin down any direct evidence indicating these two things are related, but typically large national or global events play a role in the rise and fall of assets like Bitcoin. Right now, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 are all doing well. It’s a bit strange that a time of political turmoil yields positive returns for all of the aforementioned asset classes, including Bitcoin, but the proof is clearly there.

As most of us in the space know, Bitcoin was famously at its peak in December of 2017 – it hit almost $20,000 per Bitcoin. That rise brought a whole new group of users, investors, businesses, and overall hype into the space. It seems like most of us in this space are hoping that Bitcoin performs even better come December 2020 – and if it does, we may see a whole new wave of people joining the space.

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That’s it for this week’s episode of The Cryptocurrency Informer. Don’t forget – if you want to read more about each of these stories, go to talk.bitcoin.tax and click on The Cryptocurrency Informer link. Every episode is accompanied by a number of relevant links for each story, so you can do your own in-depth research on the topics that interest you.

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Have a great weekend everyone – stay safe and stay informed!