Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis quit the U.S. presidential race, while Donald Trump promised to “never allow” a CBDC in the country.
Two crypto-friendly United States presidential candidates covered by Cointelegraph in recent months have officially dropped out of the race. Vivek Ramaswamy, the only presidential candidate with an actual crypto framework in his program, acknowledged his defeat and threw his weight behind former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, saying, “There needs to be an America first candidate in this race.” Ramaswamy emerged on the presidential campaign circuit as a relatively unknown candidate, but he quickly garnered a following in the crypto community for his outspoken policy proposals concerning Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets.
Central bank digital currency (CBDC) opponent and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also withdrew from the race for the White House after losing by a 21% margin to Trump in the Iowa caucuses for the Republican Party nomination. During one of his first campaign appearances, DeSantis vowed to ban a possible version of the digital dollar if elected. The Florida governor has been vocally supporting crypto since 2021 when he proposed allowing businesses to pay state fees with cryptocurrencies in the 2022 to 2023 budgetary year.
Trump, whose victory in the Republican primaries looks increasingly likely, has taken up at least one sensitive crypto point from his defeated opponents. During a Portsmouth, New Hampshire campaign speech, Trump vowed to “never allow” the U.S. Federal Reserve to create a CBDC in the country. “Such a currency would give a federal government, our federal government, the absolute control over your money,” Trump said. However, as president, Trump previously said he was “not a fan of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin,” saying their value is “based on thin air.”
