Bitcoin allows minorities to enjoy economic freedom and countries to avoid sanctions, proving that it is non-partisan, apolitical, and decentralized. More people will try to use BTC for political purposes, but they will not find it easy to achieve that goal.
US Republican Senator Ted Cruz confirmed his support for Bitcoin (BTC) at a recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event. However, he criticized his political opponents, from Justin Trudeau and Elizabeth Warren to the Chinese Communist Party. He said his antagonists are against Bitcoin because they want to control financial freedom and civil liberty.
Cruz thinks many politicians will try to politicize Bitcoin, although it is an apolitical asset not fitting into the right or the left.
Nobody Will Find It Easy to Change the Behavior of Bitcoin
The speech of Cruz is full of partisan elements, but Bitcoin is not against the left or the right and is apolitical. Likewise, it has a decentralized nature, implying that no political or institutional entity can alter its operation.
In the book The Blocksize Wars, Jonathan Bier explained that Bitcoin activists and organizations have failed to modify the Bitcoin code over the years.
In 2016, the so-called Bitcoin Classic proposal sought to increase the size of Bitcoin blocks. However, its adoption failed despite the support of leading institutional players like Brian Armstrong from Coinbase, Jihan Wu from Bitmain, and Roger Ver from Bitcoin.com.
It Is Incoherent to Say that Bitcoin Has a Political Side
The politicization of Bitcoin is philosophically incoherent and separate from the evidence of its use.
During the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2013, some protesters heralded Bitcoin as financial freedom. BLM activists conceived various NFT art projects to raise awareness of victims of racial murder and police reform.
Various authors and experts have made efforts to familiarize Afro-Americans and minority communities with the potential of Bitcoin. They want those people to know that it can empower them while the current financial system excludes them.
In 2017, credit card platforms and major payment platforms excluded far-right protesters from the white supremacist organization Unite the Right. Their supporters also turned to cryptocurrencies and raised 15 BTC in donations, equivalent to USD 60,000.
Even North Korea and Iran use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to ease the impact of sanctions. The former has reportedly stolen around USD 395 million worth of cryptocurrencies to finance the development of nuclear weapons.
Bitcoin allows minorities to enjoy economic freedom, and countries turn to it to avoid sanctions. It is neutral as nobody forces people to use it, but they choose to do it voluntarily.
Exchange-Traded Funds Could Politicize the Use of Bitcoin
The growing adoption of Bitcoin has led financial institutions to create products like BTC-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Since politically-captured financial institutions regulate those entities and consumers purchase those assets, BTC may remain trapped in a biased market.
However, investors can be optimistic about BTC, as nobody can arbitrarily manipulate it, unlike fiat money. Besides, buying Bitcoin on an exchange is easier and cheaper than buying gold or other assets requiring physical storage.
US Senator Ted Cruz is not the only politician that has thought of appropriating Bitcoin for partisan purposes. As BTC gains ground worldwide, more people will try to harness it for their political ends. However, those familiar with the history of decentralized cryptocurrencies know that nobody will find it easy to achieve that goal.
By Alexander Salazar
