Crypto and politics have begun to go hand in hand as the crypto community rallies behind pro-crypto politicians. Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently had something to say about this growing trend and why it is against the values of the crypto industry. 

Crypto Is More Than Just Money

In his article arguing against the support for ‘pro-crypto’ politicians, Vitalik noted that crypto is more than just money and that the crypto community shouldn’t be rallying behind a politician because they support people’s rights to hold and spend these tokens. He gave a rundown of why crypto was created in the first place to show that these politicians may not necessarily be in support of the main ideologies behind the crypto industry. 

Vitalik explained that the cypherpunk movement was what “originally created crypto.” He described the movement as a “much broader techno-libertarian ethos which argued for free and open technology as a way of protecting and enhancing individual freedoms generally.” The Ethereum co-founder further remarked that money as an important sphere of crypto later came about through Bitcoin, which was used as an easy means of online payments. 

He revealed that Bitcoin was used to compensate artists was used to compensate artists for their works without relying on restrictive copyright laws. Vitalik established that the foundation of crypto is ”freedom” and highlighted several important spheres of crypto, including ‘freedom and privacy of communication’, ‘freedom and privacy-friendly digital identity,’ ‘freedom and privacy of thought’ and ‘high-quality access to information, among others.

As such, he claimed that whoever is in crypto shouldn’t just stand with ‘crypto-as-in-cryptocurrency’ but with every underlying goal. This is where the support against politicians comes in as he doesn’t believe these politicians can align their views with what exactly crypto stands for. 

To further drive home his point, Vitalik noted how current “pro-crypto” initiatives have so far focused on the money aspect with US bills like the ‘Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act’ (FIT21) centered around the use of cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, none has tackled other issues that crypto advocates for. 

Asking The Right Questions

Vitalik mentioned that what is important is to ask if a politician is in it for the right reasons whenever they claim they are “pro-crypto.” He remarked that everyone in crypto should consider whether or not these politicians have a vision of how technology, politics, and the economy should go in the 21st century which aligns with theirs. 

He also told crypto community members to question whether or not these politicians have a “good positive vision” that extends beyond their near-term concerns like putting other countries or tribes beneath them. According to Vitalik, it is fine to support them if they hold these beliefs. If not, he urged crypto community members to stay out entirely of politics or find “better forces to align with.”