The speakers and performers of the second night of the America loves cryptocurrencies The tour participants were just as passionate and motivated to get the crypto vote out as those on the road. The first night of the tour.
Political figures and cryptocurrency industry leaders present at the event, which took place at The Space in Las Vegas, included Sonny Vinuya, Outreach Director for Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R); Rudy Pamintuan, Chief of Staff for Nevada Lt. Governor Stavros S. Anthony (R); Nevada State Treasurer Zach Conine (D) and Kate Rouch, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Coinbase, among others. Rapper and singer 070 Shake and DJ based in Las Vegas 3LAU performed at the event.
The common threads in the rhetoric of speakers and performers at the event were that crypto is here to stay, Nevada will be a home for the crypto industry, and that the crypto vote is very important in Nevada, a key swing state with a population of just over 3.1 million where the voting differential in the 2024 presidential election was just 33,516.
Ensuring victory for pro-cryptocurrency candidates in Nevada
“We need to make sure that our policymakers and the leaders we elect are those who embrace what we believe in,” Pamintuan, a cryptocurrency investor since 2015, told the audience.
“In this next election cycle, especially here in Nevada, elections will be won or lost by one or two percentage points. That's somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 votes,” he added.
“When you add up the number of people in our state who are cryptocurrency investors, that number is much larger than the margin of victory.”
Much bigger is an understatement, as 385,000 Nevadans own cryptocurrencies, according to Support Crypto AllianceThis number was plastered all over the event screens throughout the evening.
“In my business we always say that the market will decide,” Conine began.
“Well, guess what, folks? You are the market, and your vote matters. Elections in this state are always very close, and they’re not close because everyone votes and both sides are tied. They’re close because some people vote, but a lot of people stay home,” he added, before urging those present who were not registered to vote to do so, while highlighting that crypto voting can influence the vote in upcoming elections at both the state and federal level.
Rouch, a Nevada resident, also issued a call to action from the stage.
“We need them in this election,” he said.
“It’s vitally important to determine where politicians in your district and state stand on cryptocurrencies so you can really ask them the tough questions and tell your friends and family to get out and vote.”
Nevada, the birthplace of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry
“Las Vegas is a city of opportunities, beyond the casinos,” Vinuya shared from the stage.
“Nevada is home to an emerging hub of technology and financial innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth,” he added before citing that the Governor’s Office of Economic Development facilitated $5 billion in economic investment last year and that the state experienced 4% job growth in the same time period.
Part of this trend was driven by Nevada's embrace of the cryptocurrency industry.
“Amid all these exciting accomplishments under the leadership of Governor Lombardo and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Nevada has also become a home for blockchain and cryptocurrency innovators,” he explained.
Vinuya then pointed out that next year Bitcoin Conference will be based in Las Vegas.
“Here in our state, we have a good concept coined by Governor Lombardo called ‘the Nevada Way,’ which means that as Nevadans, we never give up, we never give in, and we never stop dreaming,” he concluded. “The spirit of the Nevada Way is alive and well in the Bitcoin community, and we welcome their innovation and big dreams in Nevada.”
Taking advantage of the political momentum
According to Rouch, we have reached the point of no return with cryptocurrencies and politicians can no longer afford not to take a position on the issue, which is why Coinbase supports the Stand With Crypto alliance.
“What we’re really saying here is ‘pay attention,’” Rouch told Bitcoin Magazine. “This is important to a lot of voters.”
Citing that 52 million Americans of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and socioeconomic status now own cryptocurrencies, Rouch explained that politicians, all the way up to the federal level, now see how big this problem is and are acting accordingly.
“We have seen an undeniable change in Washington, DC over the last year from both parties,” he said.
“We had Adjustment 21 passed in the House on a bipartisan vote. That was really unprecedented. We also have Politicians make their statements about cryptocurrencies known “For the first time, and I feel very optimistic about it,” he added.
Rouch was not the only speaker or performer at the event who felt optimistic.
Before starting his DJ set, 3LAU told the story of how he met the Winklevoss twins, early bitcoin buyers and owners of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, at a concert a decade ago. He shared how they explained what Bitcoin was to him at that event and that it gave him hope.
“Bitcoin changed my life and it’s been that way for the last 10 years,” 3LAU told the crowd before starting his DJ set.
“This election is probably the most important of my lifetime. We have a choice to make: the future of the financial system or continuing with the legacy of shit we have had to endure,” he added.
“And we're all going to vote for cryptocurrencies.”
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