Donald Trump’s VP pick JD Vance has mega stake in Bitcoin

After former United States President and current candidate for the repeat presidential position, Donald Trump, announced Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate, the cryptocurrency community welcomed the news with optimism, as the potential US Vice President is big on Bitcoin (BTC).

As it happens, Vance is a former venture capitalist with a personal interest in making crypto assets more accepted in the mainstream, considering that last year he reported ownership of up to $250,000 in Bitcoin, as per the US Senate Financial Disclosures for Calendar 2022.

Indeed, his substantial ownership of the flagship decentralized finance (DeFi) asset, purchased from one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, Coinbase, adds up to JD Vance net worth estimated between $3.75 million and $10.495 million, as per the above report.

In addition to BTC, Vance owns a brokerage account with Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD), up to $100,000 in a crude oil exchange-traded fund (ETF), up to $250,000 in a gold ETF, and up to $250,000 in a checking account with brokerage Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW).

Senator JD Vance’s pro-crypto stance

It is also worth noting that the author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ – a memoir of his growing up in Ohio’s rust belt – has circulated draft legislation that would change how the US regulates the crypto market, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)’s practices.

On top of that, Senator JD Vance introduced a bill in 2023 with the aim of shielding banking institutions from regulatory pressure to suspend services to crypto firms (among other business categories) and putting them under “apolitical oversight,” with support from a couple of other senators.

Presidential crypto arena

Meanwhile, crypto has become one of the main contention points in the polarized political atmosphere in the US, which awaits a major presidential battle this November between former President Trump and the incumbent holder of this position, Joe Biden.

As a reminder, the Republican presidential candidate has earlier this year expressed clear support for the crypto industry and opined that “Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a CBDC,” whereas the Democrat President allegedly hasn’t been open to hearing out Bitcoin miners’ concerns.

However, rumors have also surfaced that President Biden’s re-election campaign team has been approaching key crypto sector participants, apparently seeking advice and insights on “crypto community and policy moving forward,” in what many believe is too little too late.

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