Gemini
co-founders
Tyler
Winklevoss
and
Cameron
Winklevoss
endorsed
former
US
President
Donald
Trump
and
said
they
intend
to
vote
for
him
in
November
because
he
is
the
“pro-Bitcoin,
pro-crypto
and
pro-business
choice.”
The
Winklevoss
twins’
also
announced
that
they’ve
each
donated
$1
million
in
Bitcoin
to
the
Trump
Presidential
campaign.
The
former
President
has
recently
pledged
to
“end
Biden’s
war
on
crypto”
during
political
rallies
and
said
has
no
intention
of
stopping
people
from
using
Bitcoin
and
other
digital
assets.
The
high-profile
entrepreneurs,
known
for
their
early
investment
in
Bitcoin
and
subsequent
rise
as
influential
figures
in
the
crypto
industry,
expressed
their
support
for
Trump
via
social
media
on
June
20,
highlighting
their
dissatisfaction
with
President
Joe
Biden
and
his
administration’s
hostile
policies
toward
the
crypto
industry.
The
public
endorsement
and
substantial
financial
contribution
to
Trump’s
campaign
mark
a
significant
moment
in
the
ongoing
debate
over
crypto
regulation
in
the
US.
Their
support
highlights
the
deep
divisions
within
the
US
political
landscape
regarding
the
best
path
forward
for
digital
assets
and
regulatory
oversight.
Others
in
the
industry,
including
Coinbase
CEO
Brian
Armstrong,
have
expressed
similar
sentiments
and
called
on
the
crypto
community
to
vote
out
politicians
supporting
anti-crypto
policies.
Allegations
of
Government
Overreach
In
a
series
of
tweets,
Tyler
Winklevoss
criticized
the
Biden
Administration
for
what
he
described
as
a
deliberate
campaign
against
the
crypto
industry.
He
accused
the
administration
of
using
federal
agencies
to
stifle
innovation
and
harass
crypto
companies.
According
to
Winklevoss:
“The
Biden
Administration
has
openly
declared
war
against
crypto.
This
Administration’s
actions
have
been
nothing
short
of
an
unprecedented
abuse
of
power
wielded
entirely
for
twisted
political
gain.”
Tyler
pointed
to
actions
by
the
Office
of
the
Comptroller
of
the
Currency
(OCC)
and
the
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
(FDIC),
accusing
them
of
pressuring
banks
to
avoid
dealing
with
crypto
companies.
He
described
these
efforts
as
a
continuation
of
“Operation
Choke
Point,”
a
controversial
initiative
started
during
the
Obama
Administration,
which
he
claims
has
been
revived
and
intensified
under
Biden.
SEC’s
role
in
regulation
Winklevoss
also
criticized
the
SEC
and
its
regulation
by
enforcement
approach
against
the
industry.
He
argued
that
the
regulator’s
primary
role
should
be
to
establish
new
rules
for
the
industry.
He
said:
“The
SEC
has
not
written
a
single
rule
for
the
crypto
industry
to
help
any
of
its
participants
understand
how
to
navigate
the
regulatory
landscape.”
He
further
argued
that
the
lack
of
clear
guidelines
has
allowed
the
SEC
to
arbitrarily
sue
crypto
projects
and
companies.
He
described
this
as
a
tactic
to
“make
it
impossible
to
comply,
then
sue
everyone
for
not
complying.”
Winklevoss
also
criticized
the
application
of
the
Howey
Test,
which
determines
whether
a
transaction
qualifies
as
an
investment
contract.
The
SEC
has
often
cited
the
test
in
its
arguments
and
used
it
to
defend
its
stance
that
most
crypto
tokens
are
securities.
Winklevoss
wrote:
“By
not
writing
any
new
rules
for
crypto,
the
SEC
can
disingenuously
say
that
the
existing
rules
—
based
on
a
1946
Supreme
Court
decision
about
a
citrus
grove
in
Florida,
issued
before
most
homes
had
a
telephone
and
50
years
before
the
advent
of
the
commercial
Internet
—
are
fit
for
purpose.
They
are
not.
He
illustrated
the
impracticality
of
the
Howey
Test
in
the
context
of
modern
digital
assets
by
explaining
that
classifying
a
crypto
asset
like
Ethereum
as
a
security
would
severely
limit
its
utility.
According
to
Winklevoss:
“If
ether
is
a
security,
an
open
question
up
until
48
hours
ago,
then
you
would
be
breaking
securities
laws
if
you
sent
ether
to
a
friend
from
your
smartphone
to
their
smartphone.
Why?
Because
only
a
broker-dealer
is
allowed
to
transfer
a
security.”
He
added
that
such
a
classification
would
“gut
its
utility”
and
severely
hinder
its
ability
to
innovate
financial
systems.
Mentioned
in
this
article
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Author: Assad Jafri
