The Washington Post headline blared: Republicans suddenly love crypto. Americans should beware! Why, I wondered? The article states: - A risky product (“large risks associated with the use of bitcoin on financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection”) without limitation - their plan to use taxpayer money to help these wealthy investors. - Untethered to anything real, their price soars and plummets wildly. - crypto assets be considered securities, subject to the same regulatory constraints covering other securities. - The “value” of the so-called tokens does not rely on the government. This gives them a unique advantage in the eyes of conspiracy theorists — and criminals — wary of the state. - They are safe from the machinations of obscure technocrats at the Treasury Department or the Federal Reserve. Who buys crypto? Men and younger respondents are more likely to buy crypto than women and older respondents. Male respondents, particularly Gen Z and millennials, are much more likely than women to own cryptocurrency and be interested in investing in it in the future. Cryptocurrency awareness and ownership rates have increased to record levels: - 40% of American adults now own crypto, up from 30% in 2023. This could be as many as 93 million people. - Among current crypto owners, around 63% hope to obtain more cryptocurrency over the next year. - Men are still much more likely than women to hold crypto. - However, there was a significant jump in the crypto ownership rate among women in the past year. - Meanwhile, most age groups reported similar ownership rates, except those aged 60+ were significantly less likely to hold cryptos than the younger cohort. - A new study by Harvard Business School professor Marco Di Maggio shows that on average, cryptocurrency investors have higher household incomes, live in wealthier and more educated ZIP codes, like to gamble, frequently use credit cards, and often overdraft their checking accounts. who wants or owns those voters? - Reps & Dems. - Dems own younger voters and women now. Trump is targeting young men and young women. - Kevin O'Leary says he is surprised this is a partisan issue. Is it a national defense issue? - Note that if we were to rank countries based on their actual number of crypto owners, India would rank first at 93 million people, China would rank second at 59 million people, and the U.S. would rank third at 52 million people. - Do we want China to control crypto? Does crypto have potential for the future? - In a little more than a decade, investors have transformed cryptocurrency from a techno-curiosity into a trillion-dollar-plus opportunity that has the potential to one day reshape the global economy. Yet in the past 10 years, little has been revealed about the investors who have signed on for this wild ride. - Crypto may offer inflation protection. Not withstanding the correlation between crypto tokens and other assets has increased over time, Di Maggio found indications that household investors still saw crypto as a hedge against price increases. Many in the investment community have argued that cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin in particular, provide a hedge against inflation because they are not subject to the decisions of a government or central bank, and feature a limited supply schedule that make Bitcoin resemble digital gold. - Trump says there may be a away to use it to solve the national debt problem. If regulation is the issue, does all regulation protect consumers or just enhance government control? Case dependent question. The left creates political narratives against crypto and attacks Trump's support because the Dems are behind on the issue. Therefore it has to be attacked & minimized. China's aggressive pursuit of crypto makes it an important issue to the US, we are now behind on the issue.

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