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Blockchain Conference Brings Candidates, Senators to Fort Worth – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
More cryptocurrency is created – or “mined” in Texas than in any other state in the country. For the past three years, the North American Blockchain Summit has been held in Texas. This year it’s in Fort Worth, and the Texas Blockchain Council has brought several current and former presidential candidates and U.S. senators to town.
One reason Texas is a leader in mining the digital currency bitcoin is that the state treats it like any other heavy industry, according to Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher. Local politicians are also embracing technology. Recently the city of Fort Worth has started its own mining activity.
Blockchain leaders are trying to shed the industry’s “Wild West” image and advocate for clear regulations and institutional consensus. Many of them hope that a deregulated monetary system will grow if the public has more confidence in it.
With attention comes scrutiny. Critics argue that mining puts a strain on the energy grid. Some also don’t like how crypto companies get millions of dollars from the state to limit energy use when the ERCOT system is vulnerable.
Bratcher told NBC 5 that the new industry, however, represents a boom for Texas in terms of jobs and investment, especially in overlooked rural counties.
“These are rural jobs in counties that are losing jobs and revitalizing those counties,” Bratcher said.
The blockchain industry is trying to overcome regulatory hurdles in state and federal laws that it believes are getting in the way. Industry leaders also recently recovered from a national scandal that tarnished the technology’s reputation.
Sam Bankman Fried, founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was considered an industry titan until he was convicted of a large-scale fraud scheme worth billions of dollars. He risks decades in prison.
“The fraud he perpetrated on the American people was a disaster, and we are working really hard to make sure these types of bad actors never see the light,” Bratcher said.
Candidates and senators
Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy used the Fort Worth summit to present his blockchain policy to voters. His proposal includes limiting the Securities Exchange Commission’s power to regulate the new industry like other securities and treating the coding behind blockchain technology more like speech.
“We have a shadow government that then says if people want to give up and hold other forms of currency, like Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, there are increasing regulatory burdens to do so,” Ramaswamy told NBC 5 in an interview following his keynote speech .
Former 2020 presidential candidate and Forward Party co-chair Andrew Yang hopes technology will one day allow Americans to vote in elections from their phones. Yang argues that technology could ultimately be the key to reducing poverty rates. In the meantime, he says the industry will help grow the Texas economy.
“There is a lot of innovation in the state. There’s a lot of growth. I personally have friends who moved here to Texas. I know some of you have mixed feelings about this. But it is an engine of growth,” Yang said, in an interview with NBC 5.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also joined the event Thursday.
The event attracted state and national leaders from many political parties. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and others are scheduled to speak and hold events.