CoinDesk Podcast Network

Why Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Is So Pro-Crypto

The GOP presidential candidate also talks about how pegging the dollar to a basket of commodities that could eventually include Bitcoin would help the U.S. economy, and why he hates the idea of a CBDC.

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ABOUT

Vivek Ramaswamy is likely the biggest supporter of crypto among the current crop of presidential candidates. But his enthusiasm comes not from an inherent love of the technology or its principles themselves, but a dissatisfaction with what he calls the “administrative state” that’s stifled innovation in a number of important industries, crypto among them.

On this episode of Unchained, Ramaswamy discusses his radical plan to slash the number of people working at federal agencies; his three-point crypto policy plan based on the freedom to code as a protected form of expression, the freedom of financial self-reliance, and the freedom to innovate free from regulatory overreach; why the current orientation of the U.S. government towards regulation of the crypto industry by enforcement isn’t helping anyone; his plans to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities that could eventually include Bitcoin; why he’s so opposed to central bank digital currencies; and what industries he thinks could benefit from the use of blockchain technology.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights |

  • How Vivek, who has a background in biotech, fell down the “crypto rabbit hole”
  • How the administrative branch of government doesn't work like it's supposed to, according to Vivek
  • Why he believes the government poses a threat to the future of crypto
  • How he would respond to a situation in which the code of a smart contract is exploited
  • How Vivek would prevent the use of crypto for illicit ends
  • Why he thinks that the current status quo in terms of crypto regulation is the “worst of all worlds”
  • Vivek’s plan to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities, potentially including Bitcoin
  • Why he is so against the creation of a central bank digital currency in the U.S.
  • How blockchain technology can be used to help the U.S. maintain its technological supremacy

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Guest

Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidate

Vivek on The Chopping Block: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Wants Less Crypto Regulation

Links

Original speech unveiling his crypto policy plan at the North American Blockchain Summit 2023

Unchained: GOP Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Makes the Case for Reduced Crypto Regulation

Bloomberg: Ramaswamy’s Crypto Deregulation Plan Is Scaring the Industry

CoinDesk: Ramaswamy Shares Crypto Plan, Making Him the Only GOP Candidate Who Has One


Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz.

HOST

Laura Shin

Laura Shin is a crypto journalist, host of the Unchained podcast, and author of “The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze” (Public Affairs, 2022). Formerly a senior editor at Forbes, she was the first mainstream journalist to cover crypto full-time, and her podcasts and videos have had more than 15 million downloads and views. Shin has spoken about cryptocurrency at places such as TEDx San Francisco, the International Monetary Fund, Singularity University and the Oslo Freedom Forum.

She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors from Stanford University and has a master of arts from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. She lives in New York City.

Laura Shin