Was Cathie Wood Right About Crypto As An Issue In 2024 White House Race? 'You Can't Be On The Wrong Side Of Young People And Win An Election'

Author: Chris Katje | May 23, 2024 01:21pm

In recent weeks, several items have pointed to the cryptocurrency sector becoming a bigger issue for politicians ahead of the 2024 election.

Ark Invest Founder Cathie Wood told Benzinga this would be the case with a prediction made back in August 2023.

What Happened: While many voters could be considering a vote for Donald Trump or President Joe Biden or their respective Republican and Democratic political parties based on issues like inflation the economy, jobs, immigration and social security, a growing number of voters could be basing their vote on cryptocurrency policy and support.

In an interview with Benzinga founder Jason Raznick on "The Raz Report," Cathie Wood predicted this would be the case.

Wood told viewers there should be more judicial clarity and legislative clarity over cryptocurrency in the next few years.

Wood said at the time that cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), was becoming a bigger issue for voters.

"This is an election year issue," Wood told Benzinga.

Wood said she knew of some young people who have switched their political allegiance based on politicians like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) leading an anti-cryptocurrency push.

The Ark Invest founder said some younger people she's talked to had shifted from Democrat to Republican over cryptocurrency stances, something she said politicians and parties should be watching.

"You can't be on the wrong side of young people and win an election."

While several former presidential candidates such as Ron DeSantis, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy and Francis Suarez showed support for cryptocurrency during their time running for office, the crypto sector is now being a bigger issue for Trump and Biden in their potential head-to-head rematch.

Why It's Important: Earlier this week, Trump's presidential election campaign became the first major party campaign to accept cryptocurrency donations.

Supporters can now donate with Bitcoin, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) and several other leading cryptocurrencies.

"Demonstrating President Trump's success as a champion of American freedom and innovation, we proudly offer you a chance to contribute to the campaign with cryptocurrency. Saving our nation from Biden's failures requires your support," the Trump website reads.

The campaign donation change came as Trump publicly endorsed Bitcoin in early May at an event for holders of his non-fungible tokens.

"If you like crypto in any form … if you're in favor of crypto you'd better vote for Trump," the former president said at the event.

The comments from Trump served as a potential shift in his opinions on cryptocurrency after he previously said that Bitcoin's value was "based on thin air" in 2019.

"MAGA supporters, now with a new cryptocurrency option, will build a crypto army moving the campaign to victory on November 5^th!" Trump's campaign donation website reads.

The comments from Trump come as the Democratic party and Biden have been recognized as anti-crypto in nature.

As Congress worked to overturn SAB 121, a controversial measure that requires companies to list holdings of customer's crypto on balance sheets, Biden said he would veto the resolution.

The White House recently showed its hesitation to veto FIT21, a crypto bill to support regulations on digital assets.

"The Administration is eager to work with Congress to ensure a comprehensive and balanced regulatory framework for digital assets, building on existing authorities, which will promote the responsible development of digital assets and payment innovation and help reinforce United States leadership in the global financial system," a White House statement said.

The potential change by the White House to not veto crypto resolutions in Congress and to work together on regulations could show Biden's team looking to change their position from being anti-crypto.

Initially, it looked unlikely that Ethereum ETFs would receive approval from the SEC in May, but the new cryptocurrency investment vehicles are now more likely to be approved and hit the markets in 2024, another change in pace for how politics could be shaping the cryptocurrency market in a more positive light.

Wood may have been early with her prediction and many thought that crypto would remain a low matter when it came to securing votes in the 2024 election. Nine months later, Wood's prediction looks spot on.

Young voters could play a critical role in the 2024 election and the voter demographic, which has often leaned Democratic in recent elections, is showing more support to Republican voting in recent polls.