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Last updated: July 18, 2024, 02:53 EDT | 2 min read

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, on Wednesday, warned against voting candidates solely based on their crypto support. His comments come at a time when politicians, particularly Republicans are using crypto to influence the US elections.

Vitalik Buterin cautioned the crypto community that merely voting candidates based on their pro-crypto stance without understanding the technologys primary goals.

I argue that making decisions in this way carries a high risk of going against the values that brought you into the crypto space in the first place.

He advocates for a broader evaluation that aligns with the fundamental values of decentralization, privacy and technological freedom. He stressed on how early advocates promoted decentralization to safeguard individual freedoms beyond financial transactions.

Buterins warning comes at a time when Donald Trump, who claims himself a pro-crypto presidential nominee, recently picked pro-Bitcoin senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his choice for running mate.

Vitalik Buterin has further called crypto users to look into crypto-friendly politicians view on cryptos 5 years ago.

Similarly, look up their views on related topics, such as encrypted messaging five years ago. This can be a good guide on what kinds of changes to their views might happen five years in the future, he wrote.

Buterin has used Russias example to illustrate how crypto-friendly policies can be applied to benefit the government. He argues the community to be vigilant and avoid blindly supporting politicians who might use crypto support to further authoritarian agendas.

By publicly giving the impression that you support pro-crypto candidates just because they are pro-crypto, you are helping to create an incentive gradient where politicians come to understand that all they need to get your support is to support crypto.

The US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has amassed several crypto industry leaders lately due to his widely-promoted crypto-friendly stance.

Trumps campaign received donations in cryptocurrencies, after he promised to defend the rights of those who choose to self-custody their coins. This means, users do not need to rely on centralized crypto wallets like Coinbase to hold their tokens. Instead, they can hold their cryptos in personal wallets.

For instance, he received $2 million worth Bitcoin from crypto billionaires Winklevoss twins, founder of Gemini exchange. Elon Musk and Venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) also made significant donations to political action committees supporting Donald Trumps campaign.

Ryan Selkis, the co-founder of crypto information platform Messari, has blasted Buterin for his warning post. Selkis openly called himself as a single issue voter, throwing his support for Trump, as he likes crypto. He was also present at Trumps recent Mar-a-Lago gala for NFT holders.

I respect Vitalik but he has always been among the most naive and useless political commentators in crypto, Selkis wrote on X. He said Buterin is wrong in his thoughts.

Idealism is not realism, and he pretends we arent dealing with a cultural cancer and infestation of Marxism.

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Ethereum Creator Vitalik Buterin Argues Against Supporting only Pro-Crypto Politicians - Cryptonews