Pro-crypto Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy withdrew from the race on Tuesday, endorsing Donald Trump. While there are rumors about Ramaswamy being picked as the vice president if Trump wins the nomination, a cabinet position is more likely, according to Patrick McCarty, former senior staffer for the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

Trump announced Thursday he’d never permit a central bank digital dollar. “It’s unlikely Ramaswamy withdrawing from the presidential race will hurt crypto because it seems Donald Trump is on the same wavelength,” McCarty said in an interview. “Ramaswamy could end up with an advisor position and have a large say in crypto policy.” 

While Ramaswamy has been a political poster boy for crypto, as the first candidate to report crypto holdings and the digital assets policy framework he wrote and promoted, there are other crypto-friendly voices such as Ron DeSantis, the Republican presidential candidate, who remain in the race. 

Then there’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who a wildcard. “I can see him being somebody who is on the periphery, who either the Democrats or Republicans want to bring in to be part of their administration because of the star power of the name,” McCarty said. 

Crypto is on the ballot 

Nick Carr, political strategist of the Coinbase Stand With Crypto movement, said Ramaswamy led the way for crypto policy to be discussed on the campaign trail and it’s clear crypto isn’t going anywhere. 

“We are now seeing that candidates up and down the ballot are increasingly embracing the crypto community and courting our votes, and we're confident that much of the pro-crypto vision that Vivek articulated will be carried forward by other candidates; both for President and for other offices,” Carr said. 

There’s an air of positivity in the industry with the recent spot Bitcoin ETF approval,  well-received legal arguments from Coinbase in its litigation against the SEC yesterday in New York and legislative efforts moving forward. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Representative Patrick McHenry is able to get a vote on the market structure and stable coin bills sometime this year,” McCarty added. 

The focus is currently on foreign aid, immigration and funding the government, but once they get through these priorities, it might provide an opening for these bills sometime this year, he said.