加密货币是争夺年轻选民的新武器

比特币和其他数字货币对年轻人来说很重要，拜登和特朗普的竞选团队正在注意到这一点。

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Tether, Solana — however you count them, they’re the coin of the realm for the campaigns of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

比特币、以太坊、币安币、Tether、Solana——无论你怎么计算它们，它们都是乔·拜登总统和前总统唐纳德·特朗普竞选领域的代币。

That may be a big deal in this election year. There is no doubt this historic contest will be close, and both sides believe the wrong outcome could have cataclysmic results.

这在这个选举年可能是一件大事。毫无疑问，这场历史性的较量将会势均力敌，双方都认为错误的结果可能会带来灾难性的结果。

So how does an octogenarian and a 77-year-old connect with young voters and give themselves the edge? By tapping into the thoughts and dreams of young voters and addressing their issues.

那么，一位八十多岁的老人和一位七十七岁的老人如何与年轻选民建立联系并给自己带来优势呢？通过挖掘年轻选民的想法和梦想并解决他们的问题。

Cryptocurrency is a big one, but it’s thorny territory. The Biden administration has slow-walked crypto regulation for years. Officials cannot decide which federal agency should regulate the digital currency. So far, a few prosecutions and minor reforms have been the order of the day. There is much disagreement on how to address regulation, making it hard to build consensus.

加密货币是一个很大的领域，但它也是一个棘手的领域。拜登政府多年来在加密货币监管方面进展缓慢。官员们无法决定哪个联邦机构应该监管数字货币。到目前为止，一些起诉和小规模改革已经成为惯例。对于如何解决监管问题存在很大分歧，因此很难达成共识。

Meanwhile, crypto continues to burgeon, with most of the growth coming overseas and outside the purview of American regulators. Yet American speculators and investors are piling onto crypto. As of last week, the price of bitcoin had skyrocketed to $68,316.64 per coin, a 143.8% increase from a year ago.

与此同时，加密货币继续蓬勃发展，大部分增长来自海外且超出了美国监管机构的职权范围。然而，美国投机者和投资者正在纷纷涌入加密货币领域。截至上周，比特币价格已飙升至每枚 68,316.64 美元，较去年同期上涨 143.8%。

Everyone would agree that there should be safeguards for trading in bitcoin and that investor funds should be monitored and protected. Bitcoin will help fuel the next generation of American investors and their wealth.

每个人都会同意，比特币交易应该有保障措施，投资者的资金应该受到监控和保护。比特币将有助于推动下一代美国投资者及其财富。

Nearly 20% of Americans say they have bought crypto, according to a recent online poll of 1,000 registered voters. That includes 19% of self-identified Democrats and 18% of Republicans, according to the survey, conducted for the crypto investment firm Paradigm by Public Opinion Strategies from Feb. 28 to March 4.

最近一项针对 1,000 名注册选民的在线民意调查显示，近 20% 的美国人表示他们购买了加密货币。根据 Public Opinion Strategies 于 2 月 28 日至 3 月 4 日为加密货币投资公司 Paradigm 进行的调查，其中包括 19% 的自称民主党人和 18% 的共和党人。

Ownership of cryptocurrency is even higher among younger voters. For example, 41% of men ages 18 to 34 said they have bought crypto. The kids love it. The presidential race may turn on it.

年轻选民中加密货币的拥有率甚至更高。例如，18 至 34 岁的男性中有 41% 表示他们购买过加密货币。孩子们喜欢它。总统竞选可能会开启这一点。

Young voters could make the difference. The Biden campaign has been reaching out to them for months, on issues such as student debt relief and reproductive choice.

年轻选民可以发挥重要作用。几个月来，拜登竞选团队一直在就学生债务减免和生育选择等问题与他们进行接触。

Biden has deployed a massive social media strategy inside the White House and on the campaign trail. The messaging may not be working. Trump is gaining ground on Biden’s edge among young voters, a Harvard Youth Poll released last month shows.

拜登在白宫内部和竞选过程中部署了大规模的社交媒体策略。消息传递可能不起作用。上个月发布的哈佛青年民意调查显示，特朗普在年轻选民中的优势正在逐渐扩大。

Among people ages 18 to 29, Biden leads Trump 45% to 37% (16% said they were undecided). That’s an 8 percentage-point margin, compared with where young voters stood at this time in the 2020 presidential campaign, when Biden was beating Trump by 23 percentage points.

在 18 岁至 29 岁的人群中，拜登以 45% 比 37% 领先特朗普（16% 表示尚未决定）。与 2020 年总统竞选期间年轻选民的差距相比，这一差距为 8 个百分点，当时拜登以 23 个百分点的优势击败特朗普。

Biden needs to lean in on crypto. Young people have been the earliest and most eager adopters of the alternative currency. Polls show that young voters are worried about the economy and their financial futures. They see crypto as the golden opportunity to get ahead.

拜登需要依靠加密货币。年轻人是替代货币最早、最热切的采用者。民意调查显示，年轻选民对经济及其财务未来感到担忧。他们将加密货币视为取得成功的黄金机会。

Trump has a head start. “Crypto is Trump’s new weapon against Biden,” declared a recent headline in Politico. “It’s the first time crypto has become an issue in the general election of a presidential race.”

特朗普有先机。 “加密货币是特朗普对抗拜登的新武器，”Politico 最近的头条新闻宣称。 “这是加密货币第一次成为总统大选中的一个问题。”

Trump is all in on the currency and is even producing his own “fungible token, or NFT,” a form of digital currency, Politico noted last month.

Politico 上个月指出，特朗普全力投资这种货币，甚至正在生产自己的“可替代代币（NFT）”，这是一种数字货币。

Trump touted his embrace of the currency at a May 8 gathering of crypto supporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He attacked the Biden administration for its push to regulate the crypto industry and demanded that crypto advocates had “better vote” for him, because, he exhorted, “They are against it.”

5 月 8 日，特朗普在佛罗里达州海湖庄园举行的加密货币支持者聚会上宣扬了他对加密货币的支持。他攻击拜登政府推动加密货币行业监管，并要求加密货币倡导者为他投“更好的票”，因为他劝说，“他们反对它”。

“The GOP has become increasingly friendly toward bitcoin and other digital assets in recent years, while key Democrats remain at odds over whether to grant the industry legitimacy after a series of scandals,” Politico reported.

据《Politico》报道，“近年来，共和党对比特币和其他数字资产变得越来越友好，而民主党关键人物在一系列丑闻发生后，对于是否授予该行业合法性仍存在分歧。”

Trump’s cheerleading is getting noticed. The former president is even cozying up to Elon Musk, the crypto aficionado billionaire. Musk is popular with the youths. It’s a strategy designed to subtract young voters from the Democratic column.

特朗普的啦啦队正在受到关注。这位前总统甚至还讨好加密货币爱好者亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)。马斯克很受年轻人欢迎。这是一项旨在从民主党阵营中剔除年轻选民的策略。

“President Trump’s remarks signal a sea change in the importance of digital assets this election cycle,” Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, a top crypto industry lobbying group, told Politico.

顶级加密行业游说团体区块链协会首席执行官克里斯汀·史密斯 (Kristin Smith) 告诉 Politico，“特朗普总统的言论标志着本次选举周期数字资产的重要性发生了巨大变化。”

When it comes to courting young voters, Biden and the Democrats can’t afford to let that opportunity wash away.Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. This article was published in the Chicago Tribune and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

在争取年轻选民方面，拜登和民主党不能让这个机会消失。劳拉·华盛顿是一名政治评论员和长期芝加哥记者。本文发表在《芝加哥论坛报》上，并由论坛报内容机构发行。