Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Pledges Support for Blockchain

Presumptive US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has thrown her support behind blockchain tech applications in the public sector.

Clinton, who is expected to receive the presidential nomination from the US Democratic Party next month, released a broad technology and yesterday in which her campaign argued that US public policy should include work with blockchain.

The Clinton campaign stated:

"We must position American innovators to lead the world in the next generation of technology revolutions – from autonomous vehicles to machine learning to public service blockchain applications – and we must defend universal access to the global, digital marketplace of ideas."

The Clinton campaign also indicated that the presumptive Democratic nominee will, if elected, push for reduced regulatory barriers for startups and entrepreneurs.

"Hillary will challenge state and local governments to identify, review and reform legal and regulatory obligations that protect legacy incumbents against new innovators," the campaign said.

The comments make Clinton the latest major US political candidate to offer support for blockchain technology and its surrounding industry.

In April 2015, then-Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul announced he would accept bitcoin as payment for donations, a decision that was soon followed by former Texas Governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry.

Image credit: Trevor Collens / Shutterstock.com

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Stan Higgins

Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.