Crypto-Candidate Andrew Yang Officially Withdraws, Blockchain Loses Ally

Democrat Andrew Yang has officially withdrawn from the presidential race, suspending his bid following a poor turnout of support in the New Hampshire Primary.

Yang is a tech entrepreneur who created a buzz for his campaign by promoting a “universal basic income”, which would issue $1000 USD per month to every American adult citizen.

Blockchain Loses a Potential Ally

Andrew Yang has so far proved to be a staunch advocate of digital assets and blockchain technology which has earned him the tag, “Crypto-candidate”.

In August 2019, Yang asserted that blockchain should be incorporated to modernize the voting systems. Yang believes that blockchain will propel authentic democracy, as well as boost American participation in the election.

Two months later, he published a blog post about developing new practices and attitudes towards the regulation of technology firms to enhance the nation's economic development.

As reported by Blockchain.News, Yang once again very publicly highlighted the “high potential” of cryptocurrencies in an interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 29. During the interview, he discussed his thoughts and strategy for regulating digital assets.

Yang expressed his frustrations at the mixed communication from the main regulatory bodies. He said “Right now we’re stuck with this hodgepodge of state-by-state treatments and it’s bad for everybody: it’s bad for innovators who want to invest in this space. So that would be my priority is clear and transparent rules so that everyone knows where they can head in the future and that we can maintain competitiveness.”

Next Time for the #Yang Gang

Following the New Hampshire Primary, where Yang received about 2.9% of the vote CNN posted his message on Twitter, “While there is great work left to be done, you know, I am the math guy, and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race. ... Tonight, I am announcing that I am suspending my campaign for president."

The #YangGang, a hashtag adopted by his followers, will, unfortunately, have to wait four more years to see if attitudes have matured enough to allow this forward thinking candidate to be taken seriously.