Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Let's keep a conversation going as the US election looms.
Speaker 2: Bloomberg's out today with a big take on Trump's own
Speaker 2: journey with crypto, going from skeptic to bitcoin cheerleader. I'm
Speaker 2: delighted to bring in Kristen Smith, CEO of the Blockchain
Speaker 2: Association and DC Based Trade Association. You represent around one
Speaker 2: hundred of the industry's leading companies and you're quoted in
Speaker 2: that big take. But for me, that's the story. It
Speaker 2: wasn't so long ago that former President Trump was talking
Speaker 2: about that the criminality associated with crypto and blockchain, his
Speaker 2: doubts about it, to now being all out. Has that
Speaker 2: changed the tide for your industry.
Speaker 3: Well, nobody ever goes from being pro crypto to anti crypto.
Speaker 3: It's only the other way around. And I think that's
Speaker 3: what we saw with Donald Trump, and it's what we're
Speaker 3: seeing with folks on both sides of the aisle, both
Speaker 3: your in Congress today and who are running for Congress
Speaker 3: right now.
Speaker 1: And I think the reason for that is.
Speaker 3: That when you don't know a whole lot about crypto,
Speaker 3: you often have misconceptions about what is used for or
Speaker 3: how it works. But as you gain that knowledge and
Speaker 3: you begin to understand the power of decentralized technology, you
Speaker 3: realize what tens of millions of Americans know is that
Speaker 3: this is something that could be the foundation for a
Speaker 3: new financial services system or an alternative to the big
Speaker 3: tech ecosystem in a way that is better for users
Speaker 3: and consumers.
Speaker 1: And so there's a real reason that people like this.
Speaker 3: And what we've seen as a result of this is
Speaker 3: it's translating into the elections. The crypto voter is real,
Speaker 3: and the crypto advocate is strong, and I think that
Speaker 3: this is something we're going to continue to see talked
Speaker 3: about heading into the elections as fall.
Speaker 2: Christ and we mentioned it, but I want to actually
Speaker 2: play the SoundBite. This is former President Trump talking about
Speaker 2: the SEC and Gary Againstlam. I will fire Gary Gensler,
Speaker 2: who will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America
Speaker 2: should build the future, not block the future. Caban taking office,
Speaker 2: I will immediately appoint a Bitcoin and Crypto Presidential Advisory Council.
Speaker 2: What is the Blockchain Association and the groups that you represent?
Speaker 2: Reaction to that statement.
Speaker 3: I think people are incredibly excited by that that statement.
Speaker 3: You know, We have had, both at the Blockchain Association
Speaker 3: and within our member companies a lot of outreach over
Speaker 3: the past couple of years to the SEC to try
Speaker 3: to have a reasonable conversation about how to bring regulation
Speaker 3: to this space. And as a result, Gensler has just
Speaker 3: come back with enforcement action after enforcement action and is
Speaker 3: costing the industry hundreds of millions, if not over a
Speaker 3: billion dollars in legal fees just to deal with challenges
Speaker 3: from the SEC. Right now, this is absolutely ridiculous. Isn't
Speaker 3: how things should be done, and people are angry, and
Speaker 3: so I think people are very excited that Trump has
Speaker 3: come out this strong. I think what's interesting is we're
Speaker 3: also hearing a lot of conversations on the Democratic side
Speaker 3: of the isle. We have had I believe fourteen members
Speaker 3: of Congress wrote a letter to the DNC urging them
Speaker 3: to include something pro crypto in the platform. And there's
Speaker 3: a lot of outreach to the new nominee or presumptive nominee.
Speaker 3: I guess I should say, on the Democratic side, Harris
Speaker 3: to see if she can come out and do something
Speaker 3: pro crypto as well. So this isn't a partisan issue,
Speaker 3: but I would say Trump had a very strong showing
Speaker 3: over the weekend, and people were incredibly encouraged by the
Speaker 3: acknowledgment of the difficult time that we've had over the
Speaker 3: past three and a half years of.
Speaker 2: Gary Gensler Christen On, the vice president, that had been
Speaker 2: reported she'd also considered appearing out or speaking at Bitcoin
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four and then did not do so. Has
Speaker 2: the Blockchain Association had any conversation or agement with her
Speaker 2: campaign team and would you hope to do so?
Speaker 1: We absolutely hope to do so.
Speaker 3: We have outreached both to her government team and her
Speaker 3: campaign team right now, and I know she's had conversations
Speaker 3: with some of the leaders within the industry already, and
Speaker 3: so I think there's a lot of hope. I think
Speaker 3: what's really interesting is typically when Donald Trump comes out
Speaker 3: in support of a policy, the Democratic Party runs the
Speaker 3: other way.
Speaker 1: But what we're seeing.
Speaker 3: Here is a competition for which party can gain that
Speaker 3: valuable crypto voter. There's a poll from a couple months ago,
Speaker 3: but I think it's still relevant that one in five
Speaker 3: voters in swing states considers cryptocurrency an important issue heading
Speaker 3: into the election this fall, and I think that both
Speaker 3: sides are seeing those numbers and that there's a realization
Speaker 3: that there's no upside to being anti crypto, that really
Speaker 3: both parties need to be thoughtful about how to approach
Speaker 3: this so that we can get the right policy in place,
Speaker 3: so that those voters will go to the polls, but
Speaker 3: more importantly, that we'll be able to keep the industry
Speaker 3: and the community thriving here in.
Speaker 1: The United States.
Speaker 2: Bristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, thank you.