Benzinga - In a pivotal moment for the early 2024 presidential election cycle, eight Republican candidates gathered for a debate stage on Wednesday night.
What Happened: However, notable absences included former President and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who is also apparently an Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) whale, opted for a pre-recorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on X (formerly Twitter).
Despite the two-hour-long debate covering various topics such as abortion, Ukraine, Trump, and climate change, there was no mention of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).
The candidates who qualified for the debate stage were Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota; Chris Christie, former Governor of New Jersey; Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida; Nikki Haley, former U.N. Ambassador; Asa Hutchinson, former Governor of Arkansas; Mike Pence, former Vice President; Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur; and Tim Scott, a Senator from South Carolina.
Interestingly, both DeSantis and Ramaswamy have been actively endorsing Bitcoin during their campaigns, but the cryptocurrency was not discussed at the debate, disappointing crypto enthusiasts.
So, an hour into #GOPdebate, will we hear anything for example about crypto? About corruption in the United Nations? And, at the cusp, on the wisdom of deferring to the Bahamas as an excuse to drop the campaign finance charges against SBF? https://t.co/1w2tkmrTvA https://t.co/jgSH9dXYog— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) August 24, 2023
I hope that there is a question about regulating crypto at tonight's GOP debate @VivekGRamaswamy plz help our cause on the debate stage— Size Chad (@SizeChad) August 23, 2023
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Why It Matters: DeSantis has been a vocal supporter of Bitcoin since the beginning of his campaign.
During his campaign kickoff event, which featured Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, DeSantis even suggested that Bitcoin might face difficulties if President Joe Biden is reelected.
He stated, “You have every right to do Bitcoin. The only reason these people in Washington don't like it is because they don't control it.”
DeSantis has also criticized central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a concentration of power in the hands of a central authority. In fact, he has taken steps to prevent a digital dollar from being introduced in Florida.
Biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy, made it clear that he does not consider Bitcoin to be a security. He criticized the Federal Reserve for trying to play a “financial god,” condemned CBDCs, and opposed the Biden administration’s proposed 30% excise tax on crypto mining.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $26,391, up 1.79% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read Next: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Rise In Sync With Stock Markets: Analyst Warns ETH ‘Coming Home’ Before Touching All-Time Highs
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock.com
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