Donald Trump picks crypto-friendly JD Vance as running mate
Prospective Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump has chosen Senator JD Vance to be his running mate in 2024.
In a July 15 announcement on Truth Social, Trump said the Ohio senator would join his ticket as the vice presidential Republican candidate. Vance is rated as a “strong” supporter of cryptocurrencies by Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto initiative, based on positive social media posts and voting in favor of pro-crypto pieces of legislation.
In a 2022 financial disclosure report for the US Senate, Vance reported holding between $100,001 and $250,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) through crypto exchange Coinbase. He also voted in favor of a joint resolution to overturn a Securities and Exchange Commission rule on banks reporting crypto as a liability on their balance sheets — legislation President Joe Biden vetoed.
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Vance, the author of the book Hillbilly Elegy, has been a politician for less than two years, having won his race for an Ohio Senate seat in 2022. Trump endorsed Vance in the 2022 midterm elections for the Senate, and Vance endorsed Trump as president in the 2024 Republican primaries. However, Vance previously said Trump was “unfit” to be US President, that he “never liked him,” and anyone who voted for him was an “idiot.”
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The Ohio senator’s addition to a possible Republican ticket — delegates at the convention are expected to nominate Trump — came amid crypto and blockchain as wedge campaign issues in 2024. Trump announced ahead of the convention that his campaign would accept crypto contributions. He also may have helped direct the Republican Party to change its official platform to include statements defending BTC miners and opposing central bank digital currencies.
US President Joe Biden, expected to be the Democratic nominee, has reportedly been investigating accepting campaign contributions in crypto. On July 10, a senior Biden adviser acting in her personal capacity attended a roundtable with crypto industry advocates.
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