Crypto was on fire as a topic in the early U.S. presidential campaigning, but the first Republican debate last week showed it may not be an issue that has legs with candidates trying to grasp mainstream attention.
As the top GOP candidates spun out their well-rehearsed positions – minus former President Donald Trump, who decided not to show up to the first debate’s Milwaukee stage – they avoided mentions of cryptocurrencies or digital-assets regulation, despite its rising status as a priority in Congress and among financial regulators in the U.S. and abroad.
But their silence on stage doesn’t mean they don’t have positions on crypto, as some of them have made abundantly clear. The field of Republican and Democratic hopefuls are all over the map on how the U.S. should handle crypto, from suspicion to enthusiastic embrace.
While we wait to see whether digital assets come up at the Republican primary debate next month on Fox Business, here’s how the major candidates from both parties shake out on the topic:
And the Democrats, where the incumbent president is so far commanding the field:
