Watch Senator Ted Cruz Singing Bitcoin’s Praises At A Conservative Conference
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It’s official, Senator Ted Cruz is a bitcoiner. At least, to the degree to which we can trust politicians. Is this a sign of things to come or an exception to the rule? After flirting with the idea for a few weeks, Ted Cruz came out as a full-fledged bitcoiner at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference. And the public present cheered after every idea.
The clip is currently going viral. At the time of writing, it has 1.4M views and counting. “So, we need to decentralize. We need to break it apart. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so bullish on crypto. On bitcoin. Because it’s decentralized and not controllable,” Senator Ted Cruz said.
Can bitcoin be a bipartisan issue? Or will it be a Conservative issue instead?
What Does Ted Cruz And Nunchuk Have To Do With Each Other?
Of course, his whole speech had to do with the Canadian truckers. That living and breathing bitcoin ad of a situation has the whole world talking, and Senator Ted Cruz is no exception. He began by explaining how the Canadian government froze donation campaigns and bank accounts. Then, how Trudeau’s administration tried to do something similar with bitcoin exchanges and wallets.
Then, surprising everyone, Ted Cruz read the letter that multisig solution Nunchuk wrote to the powers that be. In a viral tweet, the company explained the situation. “Yesterday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sent us a Mareva Injunction, ordering us to freeze and disclose information about the assets involved in the Freedom Convoy 2022 movement. Here is our official response.”
The summarized version, as read by Ted Cruz, goes like this:
“Dear the Ontario Superior Court Of Justice,
Our software is free. We don’t collect any user identification information beyond e-mail addresses. We also don’t hold any keys. Therefore:
- We cannot freeze out user accounts.
- We cannot prevent them from being moved.
- We do not have the knowledge of “the existence, nature, value, and location” of our users’ assets.
This is by design. Please look up how self custody and private keys work. When the Canadian dollar becomes worthless, we will be here to serve you, too.”
“That is spectacular,” Senator Ted Cruz said simultaneously with the audience’s cheer.
The Nunchuk company’s response, “Incredibly humbled that senator Ted Cruz is sharing our message with the world. On days like this we remember and honor all the pioneers that made it happen. Satoshi, Hal Finney and many others: thank you, look how far we have come.”
BTC price chart for 25/02/2022 on Kraken | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
How Does The Twitteratti Feel About This Whole Situation?
The progressive side of Bitcoin Twitter responded in full. “Let’s hope we don’t have to view Bitcoin as right and left for much longer. I’m anxious for a rebrand,” wrote The Progressive Bitcoiner. For her part, Nicole Dobrow parodied Ted Cruz’s tweet. “The Left loves it because corporations and corporate shareholders can’t control it,” she said.
Even more confrontational was BTCGandalf, who wrote: “This is bitcoin being politicized IMO. I don’t like it. Also can someone please tell Ted to stop saying crypto and bitcoin interchangeably? Most of “crypto” is not decentralized.” Bitcoin Magazine’s Dylan LeClair, for his part, declared: “The overton window has shifted.”
Lastly, The Human Rights Foundation’s Alex Gladstein summarized the situation. “We have now reached the point on the timeline where software decentralization, censorship-resistance, and self-custodial Bitcoin use are getting cheers at major American political gatherings.”
We’re still early, though.
Featured Image: Ted Cruz at the CPAC 2022 Conference | Charts by TradingView
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