Biden Throws Crypto Traders Under the Bus in Debt Deal

As budget negotiations in the US progress, President Joe Biden has made it clear that crypto can wait.

On Sunday, the POTUS did not mince words when addressing budget negotiations during his speech at the G7 summit stating he will not protect wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders. According to the president, he had already met with all four congressional leaders and stressed the need for bipartisan cooperation to move forward prior to departing for the summit.

President Biden had put forth a proposal that exceeds 2 trillion dollars in spending cuts and new revenues in early March before proposing to cut a further $1 trillion in his pursuit of fiscal responsibility. However, he expressed dissatisfaction with various other proposals, such as excess payments to pharmaceutical companies as well as hefty tax breaks for the oil industry and crypto traders, deeming them unacceptable.

“Now its time for the other side to move from their extreme positions because much of what they’ve already proposed is simply, quite frankly unacceptable…. I’m not going to agree to a deal that protects wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders while putting food assistants at risk for nearly 1 million Americans,” Biden said on Sunday.

This statement comes at a time when US regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of the cryptocurrency realm and clearly indicates that the forthcoming debt deal will not safeguard crypto investors within the country. Notably, Biden’s assertions also have the ability to undermine his administration’s efforts to pursue crypto regulations, as he directed in his March 2022 executive order.

Meanwhile, while Biden’s proposal underscores his commitment to prioritizing the well-being of ordinary Americans, the crypto community have perceived it as a way of gaining political mileage, given he is seeking re-election next year.

Elsewhere, various US presidential candidates seem to be taking his administration’s outright hostility towards crypto to their advantage, vowing to champion pro-crypto reforms when elected. Earlier this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a Democratic presidential candidate, noted that he is committed to upholding people’s right to hold Bitcoin.

“Everybody is so passionate about Bitcoin, not just because it’s a currency but because it’s an exercise in democracy,” Kennedy said at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami Saturday. “As president, I will make sure that you got your own wallet that the government can’t interfere with. Nobody is going to be taxing your electricity 30% and that we can nature this product in America where it’s going to create wealth for Americans.” 

Vivek Ramaswamy, another presidential candidate, announced at the same event that they had officially started accepting Bitcoin donations for his campaign, saying “Let’s make the 2024 election a referendum on fiat currency.”

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