At the University’s debate in Tuscaloosa, Republican candidates spoke about cryptocurrency regulation, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and its potential dangers. 

What Happened: Eliana Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon probed candidate Vivek Ramaswamy regarding his advocacy for cryptocurrencies—citing the former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who succumbed to legal pressures, leading to his resignation and Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement for criminal charges related to money laundering, including for “terrorist groups like Hamas.”

Ramaswamy criticized the current regulatory framework as ineffective, pointing to the FTX controversy under Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) as an example.  “Look, fraudsters, criminals and terrorists have been defrauding people for a long time. Our regulations need to catch up with the current moment. The fact that SBF was able to do what he did at FTX shows that whatever they have in the current framework isn’t working. “

He also expressed embarrassment on behalf of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler for his failure to classify Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) confidently before Congress. “And I think it is nothing short of embarrassing that Gary Gensler, the current leader of the SEC, in front of Congress could not even say whether Ethereum counted as a regulated security or not. And so I think that this is just another example of the administrative state gone too far. Here’s the dirty little secret in American politics today. The people who we elect to run the government are not the ones who are even actually running the government. It is the bureaucrats in those three letter agencies.” 

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Why It Matters: During the event, the last of its kind for the year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis voiced his strong opposition to Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), framing President Biden’s support for such a currency as a direct threat to personal freedoms, including privacy and unregulated purchasing power. “One of the dangers that we’re gonna face [is that] Biden wants a central bank digital currency. They want to get rid of cash crypto, they want to force you to do that. They’ll take away your privacy, they will absolutely regulate your purchases. On day one as President, we take the idea of central bank digital currency, and we throw it in the trash can. It’ll be dead on arrival.” 

The debate stage was manned by seasoned political figures, including former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Notably absent was ex-President Donald Trump, who bypassed the debate in favor of attending a Florida fundraiser. 

Image via Shutterstock

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