Out of all 2020 U.S. presidential candidates, two are currently accepting cryptocurrency donations, which are reportedly both helping them raise more money and stand out amongst the crowd.
As reported by Yahoo Finance, California Rep. Eric Swalwell has recently started accepting cryptocurrency donations, joining fellow Democratic candidate Andrew Yang. Swalwell’s campaign is currently accepting crypto through The White Company.
The company, founded by entrepreneur Elizabeth White, is helping Swalwell’s campaign accept bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin SV (BSV), ether (ETH), stellar lumens (XLM), and its own stablecoin called WSD. The stablecoin runs on the Stellar network, which recently suffered a brief outage.
In a video on his cryptocurrency donations page, Swalwell notes that “blockchain can change the world” if we allow it to, and that while there’s a risk associated with the nascent technology we must “test, re-test, and constantly monitor such systems.” He adds that:
Government has to keep up with the times, and the times have changed. We must study, but ultimately embrace, these new frontiers.
Through a press release shared with CryptoGlobe, The White Company noted that thanks to the Stellar-based stablecoin and other cryptocurrencies, Swalwell can accept crypto donations and have instant access to the funds, as transaction fees are “less than a penny and settle in 3 seconds.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell is accepting donationss in six #cryptocurrencies to support his U.S. Presidency campaign. @ericswalwell https://t.co/04c3qlxXve
— Francisco Memoria (@FranciscoMemor) May 23, 2019
Fellow Democratic candidate Andrew Yang is also accepting crypto donations. In fact, he has been doing so for nearly a year and is known by some as the “bitcoin candidate.” Yang, according to reports, was the first candidate to call for clearer regulatory guidelines on cryptocurrencies.
On social media, some users have started using the “#YangGang” hashtag to discuss his campaign and his views on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Speaking at the Consensus conference in New York earlier this month, Yang stated:
I believe blockchain needs to be a big part of our future. If I’m in the White House, oh boy are we going to have some fun in terms of the cryptocurrency community.
When asked about Yang’s reputation in the crypto space, Swalwell told Yahoo Finance he’s “glad to see other candidates using innovative technologies in their campaigns.” In the press release shared with CryptoGlobe, The White Company noted it’s faster to donate crypto through it.
This, as there’s no need for a “30-minute compliance call,” which Yang’s campaign asks supporters to participate in before sending over a wallet address they can donate to. As the news outlet notes, Swalwell has accepted crypto donations when he ran for Congress in 2012, although he reportedly owns no cryptocurrencies himself.