Leading Bitcoin miners form new group, aim to impact political landscape

Top bitcoin miners have launched a new nonprofit organization focused on educating and galvanizing voters around that digital asset and the broader cryptocurrency space.

The miners — from Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital Holdings, and CleanSpark — registered the Bitcoin Voter Project as a nonpartisan 501(c)(4), meaning it can’t primarily support a specific candidate or political party. The founders aim to use the group to mobilize the growing contingent of bitcoin and crypto advocates within the political sphere.

“It’s a new and emerging issue on the political landscape, and I think a lot of bitcoiners have not been typically that involved in the process,” Brian Morgenstern, president of the group, said during an interview with the Washington Examiner.

Crypto and bitcoin itself have recently exploded in popularity. Much of that has come in the form of attention to just how much the digital asset space has expanded.

The price of bitcoin has ballooned 145% in the past year alone, far outpacing investments in traditional asset classes. In the past five years, it has grown 443%, offering stakeholders tremendous returns.

As bitcoin has grown in popularity, so too has it intersected with the political and regulatory realm. The SEC under Chairman Gary Gensler has been very tough on the industry. The SEC enforcement actions against crypto companies have nearly doubled since Gensler took over in 2021, for instance.

Morgenstern touched on some of that. He said that at the presidential level, President Joe Biden’s administration has been “quite hostile” toward the industry. Still, the group hopes to cultivate voters all across the political spectrum to leverage their power on the matter at hand.

“It’s emerged as a presidential year issue, but it certainly cuts well across party lines,” Morgenstern said.

Indeed, the bitcoin voting bloc, while small, is growing and growing in attention. Former President Donald Trump, who once called bitcoin a “scam,” has recently embraced the crypto space and is now trying to paint himself as a champion of the industry in the rematch against Biden.

“To the nation’s 50 million crypto holders, I say this: With your vote, I will keep [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your bitcoin,” Trump told a crowd at the Libertarian Party’s national convention last month, drawing a contrast to the Massachusetts Democrat, who is one of the industry’s biggest opponents.

David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, told the Washington Examiner at the time that embracing bitcoin is a savvy political move for Trump.

“Part of that is politics. It’s seeing the opportunity to distinguish himself with younger voters, with voters that are engaged … in crypto,” McIntosh said of Trump’s speech at the Libertarian Party’s convention. “Because Biden has such a terrible record on it.”

In a landing video on the new group’s website, the narrator of the sleekly designed ad argues that issues like the country’s soaring national debt and a struggling financial system “demand the same kind of innovation that has made this country great.”

The advertisement for the Bitcoin Voter Project argues that bitcoin offers a secure and straightforward way for consumers to protect their wealth, noting that the cryptocurrency’s inherent design prevents it from being devalued by the inflation currently plaguing the economy.

“Bitcoin is the currency of the future, and that future is now,” the ad blares.

Morgenstern said that some data suggest a notable share of voters are going to actively seek out the candidates’ platforms on crypto policy in deciding who to vote for in the coming election. The Bitcoin Voter Project aims to help encourage such investigation.

Jayson Browder, a board member of the Bitcoin Voter Project, told the Washington Examiner that a lot of the group’s work is going to be focused on research and education. He pointed out that there are other groups in the digital asset space that are funding specific political campaigns, but said that his group is specifically grassroots education and research.

Browder said that the group is “bitcoin values focused.”

“And I think that is important for our space as we continue to grow and mature as an industry,” he said.

While the Bitcoin Voter Project just launched in June, it has been in the works for months now, according to its founders. The goal is to massively grow the group in the coming months as the election approaches.

Eventually, the founders say they hope to make the group a powerful force in politics, with Morgenstern invoking other organizations like the National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood.

“We want bitcoin to be even more influential, we want bitcoiners to have as strong a voice as possible with our policymakers at both the state and federal levels,” he said.

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He expects that the group will ultimately help all stakeholders in the world of bitcoin.

“If we are correct, that bitcoiners are an incredibly passionate group, and we can educate them on the public policy issues, then we can direct their energy towards better public policy,” he said. “I think we’re going to have an outsize voice and it’s going to lead to both better politics and better policy for bitcoin and for bitcoiners across the country.”