Thread by @BenDiFrancesco

I'm embarrassed that it took me this long to realize that Trump's pivot on crypto isn't about winning single issue crypto voters (an assertion I always found hard to believe because there just aren't that many of us in swing states). Instead, it was about winning over the tech donor class, who saw the Biden admin's aggressive anti-crypto stance as a tentpole in a broader anti-tech and anti-innovation turn from the left.

Trump isn't embracing crypto qua crytpo, but rather as a way to signal to the wealthy SV types that he will be pro-tech writ large. And it seems to have largely worked.

I'm generally fine with this. If folks like Elon and Sacks and a16z want to punish the Dems for their inexplicable anti-tech posture, by directing money away from them and toward their opponents, so be it. I hope the outcome is a new crop of Dems who don't make the same mistake, and not Dems digging in on this position.

I've been saying this for years, but I think crypto people should focus on supporting pro-crypto candidates in both parties at the primary level, especially in districts/states that won't be competitive in the general. Ultimately, we need to get back to a place where crypto is non-partisan. Wealthy tech folks whacking Dems with the money stick this cycle might be the way to do that.