2022 Texas gubernatorial elections have become a race for promising Bitcoin (BTC) adoption by several candidates. Republicans Don Huffines, Allen West, and the current governor Greg Abbott have all jumped in to offer voters policies like making Bitcoin a legal tender, using Bitcoin mining to bolster the power grid, leading the world in leveraging Bitcoin infrastructure, and more.
The Promises
Following Arizona’s big headlines about the introduction of a bill to make Bitcoin legal tender, Texan governor candidates are not lagging behind.
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Texas has been very interested in becoming the capital of crypto mining ever since crypto miners from China and Kazakhstan have been lured to the ‘Lone Star State’ after these countries banned or limited their operations.
As concerns have been raised about the energy consumption of crypto mining activity in the state, Texas’ current governor Greg Abbott has defended the operations by claiming that “The miners’ computer arrays would demand so much electricity that someone would come along to build more power plants, something Texas badly needs.”
Abbot has further alleged that, at moments of need like winter storms, miners will voluntarily shut down operations to conserve energy for homes and businesses.
Besides looking to turn Texas into the main destiny for crypto miners, the governor, as well as Republican lawmakers, have made many efforts to grow the crypto-related industry and adoption in the state with anti-regulatory laws.
On June 15, 2021, Governor Abbott signed the “Texas Virtual Currency Bill” (TVCB) into law, which according to Freeman Law:
“(1) recognizes the legal status of virtual currency, (2) regulates cryptocurrency under the commercial laws of Texas, and (3) provides cryptocurrency holders with legal rights. Therefore, the TVCA makes cryptocurrency safer for investors by legally recognizing virtual currency, subjecting cryptocurrency firms to commercial regulations, and by supplying token investors with legal rights to their investments.”
On the candidate Don Huffines’ side, he recently claimed that he is a strong believer of BTC “in both its value as an asset and potential as a currency”, adding that Texas must take America’s lead role on the digital coin’s policy and cryptocurrency adoption. He says to be committed to turning Texas into a “Citadel for Bitcoin” and protecting the industry “from the federal government”.
Huffines’ Bitcoin policy plan claims that if elected he will declare bitcoin as legal tender in Texas, work on a more robust and reliable energy grid, prohibit localities from regulating BTC miners and holders, protect Texas-based Bitcoin and crypto owners and miners from federal regulations, and other attractive promises that the candidate fails to explain how he would achieve.
“Utilizing blockchain, Bitcoin has become the “gold standard” of digital currency and removed the traditional boundaries created by banking regulations that require countless unnecessary human interactions. […] The result has been massive wealth creation and the beginning of an enormous job creation wave because of this technology.”
They are all very in vogue, as all political elections go.
Besides Bitcoin
It is equally important to know what other policies these three lone stars have included in their plans. Their address very similar topics with analogous speeches.
All three are against abortion, against vaccines (very innovative of them), and think that “It is time for Texas to step up, stop the invasion, and defend [its] citizens” referring to building the wall, “securing” the border, and so forth.
The Huffines plan also aims to prevent Chinese citizens from enrolling at Texas colleges and universities as a way to recognize China “as America’s top geopolitical threat”, and includes other policies alike. I guess it would be alright if Chinese citizens keep doing crypto mining in the state though, but that’s not clear.
Overall, they promise a state with a lot of freedom for everyone. Not really, just the people these candidates like. Not women. Not all [most] immigrants.
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