Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic Primary Challenger Wants Your Bitcoin
Remember Nancy Pelosi's quid pro quo with Visa in 2008? Her husband profited from its IPO while she stalled a consumer credit card bill. Democrats would like you to forget. | Image: REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Congressional hopeful Agatha Bacelar is the latest dark-horse politician to join in on the Bitcoin campaign trail. The San Francisco-based Democrat is mounting a primary challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and hopes to drum up support for a $1 million cryptocurrency campaign bankroll .
Agatha Bacelar Guns for the Tech Vote in Democratic Primary
Bacelar is a Stanford engineer who hopes to woo the tech vote in California’s 12th congressional district.
This is one of the backbones of her crypto campaign because, she claims, only 3% of members of the House of Representatives come from a STEM background.
“Your support will help elect someone who understands the importance of this breakthrough technology, and that the US cannot be left behind,” she says on her campaign website.
Pro-Bitcoin? Nancy Pelosi’s Dark Horse Challenger Is Banking on It
Bacelar will gladly take your donations in several cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and USD Coin.
Coinbase is handling the official exchange, which is why its native stablecoin USDC rounds up the list of payment options. You won’t be able to donate anonymously, however, as campaign finance law requires your personal details.
That may hurt her campaign, given how important privacy is to some crypto pundits. It’s early days, though, and Bacelar still has time to reach that lofty target.
So far, the drive has secured $5,000 out of an ambitious $1 million target – a goal which is even more demanding when you consider she won’t accept corporate sponsorship.
The self-proclaimed “grassroots” campaign will culminate with the Democratic primary in March 2020.
New-Age Politicians in a Digital World
A new generation of politicians is looking to ride the blockchain wave and dazzle voters with their crypto know-how and “decentralized” beliefs.
Some of those ideals can be found in an organization that Bacelar cofounded called Democracy Earth . The nonprofit aspires to build democratic software somewhat similar to blockchain.
Cryptocurrency funding is just the next logical marketing step. Of course, Bacelar isn’t the first person to take this route. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is also well-known for hitting the digital trail in his quest for the Oval Office.
Elsewhere, there’s former U.S. Representative Ron Paul who will be headlining the upcoming Litecoin summit.
Add to that other interesting figures like Tulsi Gabbard or the renegade candidate John McAfee, and you have a cocktail of politicians looking to add yet another float to crypto’s political parade.
