On the heels of tour stops in Arizona, Nevada and Detroit, the America Loves Crypto tour rolled into Wisconsin on Friday, September 13, where local Bitcoin and crypto voters in the state rallied in support of pro-crypto candidates for the upcoming US elections. At the Red Rock Saloon in Milwaukee, WI, more than 200 people — including founders, politicians and technology enthusiasts — congregated to ask the question: How can we support Bitcoin and crypto on Capitol Hill?
The battleground state was split nearly down the middle in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, with Biden and Trump receiving 1,630,866 and 1,610,184 votes, respectively. With 840,000 Wisconsinites owning some form of cryptocurrency, the narrow 2020 electoral margin of just 20,000 votes could easily be disrupted by the undecided crypto vote in 2024.
The America Loves Crypto crowd was met with politicians from both sides of the aisle as well as Bitcoin and crypto industry representatives, followed by up-and-coming artist Jessie Murph, whose soulful blend of country and pop music resonated with a surprising number of fans.
The event’s speakers included Josh Schoemann, Washington County Executive (R); Peter Burgelis, City of Milwaukee Alderman (D); Kara Calvert, Coinbase Head of U.S. Policy; Dom Bei, founder of Proof of Workforce; Spencer Smith, Founder of AmpliPhi Digital; Tiara Nicole, Co-founder of Craft the Future; Ian McCullough, Stand With Crypto WI chapter president and Awen co-founder; and Maggie Schmidt, Awen co-founder.
Wisconsin State Pension’s Bitcoin Investment
In May of this year, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) invested $162 million dollars in Bitcoin ETFs, becoming the first U.S. state pension fund to invest in the asset class.
“The Wisconsin retirement system is a very healthy fund, and it’s funded at almost 100%. Very few pensions in the U.S. can boast that, and they are the 10th largest pension in the nation,” Dom Bei told Bitcoin Magazine.
“They have a good balance of being both conservative and innovative. It’s a huge deal because they are healthy and they are looked at nationwide as a leader in the space,” he added.
Bei is a firefighter for the city of Santa Monica, California and Founder of the Bitcoin 501(c)(4) non-profit Proof of Workforce Foundation who educates workers, unions, pensions and municipalities with education-based Bitcoin adoption. To Bei, the trend of pensions investing in Bitcoin will only continue to gain momentum.
“The $5 billion dollar Houston Firefighters Relief and Pension Fund was actually the first public pension fund to buy Bitcoin back in 2021,” Bei explained.
“The state of Michigan has also made a small $7 million allocation to Bitcoin ETFs. It will be fascinating to see the profile of the pensions that follow, whether they are underwater and mismanaged, or fully funded and operating from a place of strength,” he added.
For Bei, Bitcoin is not just a tool for risk managers and Wall Street-types seeking outperformance, but an opportunity to re-engineer the American city for the benefit of wage earners, not just those in power.
“It’s not just necessarily about municipalities holding bitcoin”, said Bei. “It’s really about activating the Bitcoin community, its innovation, and competing to bring in Bitcoin companies while increasing financial literacy for everyone.”
“If union members and workers learn the history of Bitcoin and why it was created, they are going to understand immediately where Bitcoin fits into the union story and the genesis of organized labor,” said Bei. “Bitcoin was created as a response to the financial system placing its failures on the backs of the wage earner.”
Bei’s non-profit has partnered with the City of Santa Monica to launch the Santa Monica Bitcoin Office, akin to the El Salvador Bitcoin Office, to launch a Peer to Pier Bitcoin Festival in October of this year during Los Angeles Tech Week.
When it comes to other investment allocators taking the plunge with Bitcoin and crypto, Spencer Smith, founder of marketing firm AmpliPhi Digital and Board Member of the Wisconsin Technology Council, sees Wisconsin’s allocation as an extremely important signal to the investment community.
“If I’m an investment manager reporting to a committee, you can point to the state of Wisconsin and say ‘Well, they did it, here’s how they did it, and why I propose that we [allocate to Bitcoin].’ said Smith. “Having that first-mover advantage is important for Wisconsin, [and] it really sets the stage for the rest of the states as well.”
Smith also noted that Bitcoin’s sideways price action, following the meteoric 2021 bull run, has led to more clear conversations amongst Wisconsin legislators as well.
“Now that the hype has died down, it gives us a lot more room to educate on a basis that’s more from an understanding [of] ‘How do we figure this out? Now that there’s ETFs, how do we deploy these? How do you explain compliance?’” he said.
Incentives first. Party second.
Wisconsin has seen a stark divide between its rural and urban voter populations, reflecting a larger national trend of partisan polarization with rural voters predominantly voting Republican and urban voters predominantly voting Democrat. Despite that backdrop, the Red Rock Saloon saw a unique blend of poly-partisanship on display, where Republicans, Democrats and even Independents saw value in courting the crypto voter.
Delivering remarks in the typically deep blue Milwaukee, Joe Schoemann (R), Executive of the rural Washington county, received loud cheers in response to his re-affirmation of crypto as a means of prosperity for the average American.
“I’ve been focused on giving the American Dream to the American citizen,” said Schoemann to the crowd. “Crypto represents that for all of us.”
It’s no secret that the Bitcoin and crypto industry has seen what many view as unwarranted, or at least unwelcome, attacks from the national regulatory apparatus in the last few years, and because of this, the industry is not backing down.
This attitude was echoed by Peter Burgelis (D), City of Milwaukee Alderman.
“I ran for office because the election didn’t go my way and I was pissed,” said Alderman to the crowd
“And when something doesn’t go your way, you can post something dumb on social media or you can put your boots on and run. And I ran and I won,” he added.
“Crypto is important and your vote matters. Get out and vote.”
U.S. Senate candidate Phil Anderson (I) reflected on the fact that Bitcoin and crypto appear to be one of the few issues that can transcend party lines.
“We don’t have representative government anymore,” Anderson told Bitcoin Magazine.
“Lobbyists write the bills and the two-party system makes the representatives vote a certain way. And that goes to what all of Congress will agree to: constantly spending on war, constantly spending without any responsibility and really abusing fiat money,” he added.
“It’s all tied together, and it’s important to support Bitcoin and blockchain as a way of making our government more transparent and more accountable.”
With his campaign slogan of #DisruptTheCorruption, Anderson sees Bitcoin and crypto as both a technological and electoral priority for representative democracy.
The next America Loves Crypto event is in Philadelphia, PA on September 16, followed by a 600-person event in Washington, D.C., culminating in a featured performance by The Chainsmokers to close out the tour.
Attendees may RSVP for the free events via the Stand With Crypto website.