Former US President Donald J. Trump has chosen a Bitcoin (BTC) holder to be his vice presidential running mate for the 2024 election.
At yesterday’s Republican National Convention, Republican nominee Trump announced the pro-crypto politician J.D. Vance as his VP running mate.
According to the United States Senate financial disclosures portal, Vance, an Ohio senator, owns somewhere between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of BTC.
Vance, the author of the 2016 best-seller “Hillbilly Elegy”, which was adapted by Ron Howard to film in 2020, won his 2022 primary running as a crypto supporter. He is reportedly drafting bill aimed at revamping how the US classifies and regulates crypto. He has been a vocal supporter of blockchain technology since at least 2022.
In a recent speech, the best-selling author criticized U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, describing Gensler’s stance on crypto as the “exact opposite” of what it should be.
Though the senator has long supported crypto as a former VC with Silicon Valley ties, Vance has not always supported Trump. In 2016, while promoting his memoir, he told Charlie Rose in an interview that he is a “Never Trump guy.” Furthermore, in now-deleted tweets and messages, Vance reportedly referred to Trump as an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler.”
On July 13, Trump survived an apparent assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania political rally.
Trump has carved out a niche as a crypto-friendly candidate in 2024. However, he previously described digital assets as “a disaster waiting to happen.”
In May 2018, while serving in the Oval Office, he reportedly directed then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after Bitcoin [for fraud].”
Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign began accepting crypto donations earlier this year, receiving $2 million worth of Bitcoin from Gemini crypto exchange co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
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