On a 100°F evening in Phoenix, crypto enthusiasts from Arizona flocked to the first night of the America loves crypto tour.
The tour, organized by the Support Crypto Alliancea nonprofit organization whose mission is to get America’s 52 million crypto owners to the polls in November, will be visiting five swing states over the next few weeks to raise awareness about the importance of voting for candidates who support pro-crypto policies in the upcoming US election.
On this night in Arizona, politicians like Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Arizona House Speaker Travis Grantham (R) addressed the crowd, along with crypto industry founders, before making way for the psychedelic soul grooves of the black pumas.
The mission and the margin
“A huge priority for us is to make the crypto voice heard,” Logan Dobson, Executive Director of Stand With Crypto, told Bitcoin Magazine.
“Our only business is crypto. We’re not pushing for specific candidates. We’re not pushing for specific parties. We’re just making sure the crypto votes come in,” he added.
“And I can tell you that in several swing states, more people have already signed up for Stand With Crypto than the margin of victory in 2020.”
Dobson’s last point is especially clear in Arizona, where President Biden defeated former President Trump by 100 percent in the 2020 presidential election. about 10,500 votesStand With Crypto has attracted nearly three times as many crypto advocates — 27,231 — than the number of voters responsible for Biden’s margin of victory in the previous election.
Encouragement from politicians
Senator Sinema opened the event by calling on the audience to vote fearlessly for candidates who support crypto policies.
“You are a true force in Arizona and it is important that we use this election cycle to ensure the voice of the crypto community is heard,” said Senator Sinema.
“We need to push for policies that incentivize innovation so the financial system works for everyday people. We need to ensure that candidates at all levels of the ballot — both state legislatures and federal — understand crypto and work to create a great political climate for crypto instead of one based on misinformation, fear, and outdated regulations that hinder the industry,” she added.
Sinema concluded her short speech with what seemed like a mild dig at Democrats, the party she left in December 2022.
“Don’t be afraid to support a candidate or elected official who takes risks,” she said.
“You all understand the value of taking risks. The crypto industry wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t risk taking,” Sinema added.
“We want to look for candidates who are reasonable, but willing to take risks and speak out against the party-line rhetoric that tries to stop or slow innovation in this sector.”
After Sinema, Grantham was an advocate for the freedom that bitcoin and crypto offer their users.
Grantham didn’t beat around the bush on stage. He discussed how politicians are abusing the US dollar by spending more than they have and printing it at will. He argued that it’s up to Gen Z and Millennials to vote for pro-crypto politicians to make assets like bitcoin compete with the dollar. He was even more explicit on this topic in a backstage interview with Bitcoin Magazine.
“There is a large group of elected officials who think that government is the solution to our monetary problems, that this fiscal irresponsibility doesn’t matter, and that the dollar is going to be the end all be all forever — and that’s just crazy thinking,” Grantham told Bitcoin Magazine.
“One of the reasons (crypto) is becoming so popular is what we do with the dollar,” he argued.
For that reason, Grantham felt it was important for voters to support candidates who do not believe in eliminating crypto regulation, and to vote for politicians who support freedom rather than those who seek control.
“It’s a matter of freedom and control,” Grantham said.
“(Some politicians want) control by having everyone locked into one currency and not allowing anything else to break through, which is what crypto is doing. Competition is a good thing, especially when the one who controls the only thing is abusing it so badly,” he concluded.
Founders don’t ask for much
Next, a panel of Arizona crypto founders took the stage. The panel included Thor Abassi, co-founder of the DeFi protocol Zivoe; George Mekhail, VP of Operations for Bitcoin Magazine and co-organizer of the Arizona Bitcoin Network; and Shelton Beascochea, co-founder of DevilsDAO and support the Crypto Arizona Chapter Chairman.
Industry leaders asked for little more than clear rules of the road from the U.S. government so they could run their businesses onshore and compliantly. In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Abassi discussed the fears crypto founders have faced over unfair treatment by federal regulators under the Biden administration.
“One of the most difficult things for our project is (knowing) how the industry can collaborate with banks,” Abassi told Bitcoin Magazine.
“We’ve probably all heard of it Operation Chokepoint 2.0“, he added, referring to the government’s unconstitutional approach to the politically unfavorable, but not illegal, crypto industry, which resulted in the debanking of many crypto companies.
“If we had regulations that describe what crypto companies need to do to become banks, that would be hugely helpful.”
Mekhail ended the spoken portion of the evening on a high note, emphasizing that the crypto industry has made remarkable progress, which is only likely to increase in the future.
“Think about where we were four years ago,” Mekhail said.
“We couldn’t have an event like this. The fact that 15% of Americans own some form of crypto is insane, especially when you think about what it’s going to be like in four years,” he added.
“The momentum is behind us. It’s events like this and just showing that we have a voice, that’s really important.”
The second date of the America Loves Crypto tour is scheduled for tonight, September 5th, at The Space in Las Vegas, NV. You can register for the event here here.