Bitcoiners Are Now a Voting Bloc
block #845571
synopsis
Bitcoin meets the 2024 US election cycle. Trump says he'll pardon Ross Ulbricht, RFK Jr. speaks at Bitcoin conference, and Biden's administration has been hostile. Ian argues politicians are discovering Bitcoiners as a voting bloc — not because they understand Bitcoin, but because they recognize future wealth concentration. The episode examines whether Bitcoiners should ask for more than "just leave us alone."
quotes
"The best way for Bitcoiners to vote is to vote with their dollars when they convert them to Bitcoin." — Ian
"I'm just going to let you know right now, I'm not going to do that." — Ian on being scared into selling
"Leave me alone. Go die somewhere so that we can all just go about our business." — Ian on octogenarian politicians
"Just because they're saying the word Bitcoin doesn't mean that they're a Bitcoiner." — Mandana
"If you have 100 Bitcoin today, go pick any town in America with less than 200,000 people and say, I'm going to be mayor in 20 years." — Ian
"In the future, the world will be run by Bitcoiners." — Ian
"We're more powerful than we know." — Mandana
topics
Satoshi's white paper timing relative to 2008 election (coincidence vs. design)Trump promising to commute Ross Ulbricht's sentenceRFK Jr. as genuinely pro-Bitcoin (anti-CBDC, spoke at Bitcoin conference)Biden administration's hostile track record (Samourai, exit tax, $600 reporting threshold, 80,000 IRS agents)Vivek Ramaswamy as an actual Bitcoiner who moved the Overton window in debatesWhether Bitcoiners should be a "voting bloc"The impossibility of Bitcoin becoming legal tender before US debt default"Vote with your dollars when you convert them to Bitcoin" — the slow bank runIran's enforcement cycles as parallel to US governanceMandana's political evolution: considering not voting