Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy described his plans to stabilize the U.S. dollar by tying it to a basket of commodities that could potentially include Bitcoin in the “foreseeable future,” while also rejecting the development of a CBDC in America.
On the Unchained podcast, Ramaswamy said he wants to “put the Fed in its place,” reducing the U.S. Federal Reserve’s workforce by 90% and focusing its purpose on a singular mandate: stabilizing the dollar.
The pro-crypto candidate said he hasn’t “nailed down” exactly which commodities would be included in such a basket, adding that he is considering rare metals such as gold, silver and nickel as well as agricultural commodities.
He noted that “it could be reasonable” to include Bitcoin in such a basket once the asset has been broadly accepted and its volatility is more in line with the larger basket of commodities.
Ramaswamy argued that he is “the most pro-Bitcoin and broadly pro-crypto” candidate that will ever run for president in the foreseeable future, but insisted that he’s not a “single-issue advocate” for crypto inclusion.
“I’m against the volatility of the dollar that we’ve seen,” Ramaswamy said. “I’m against the government having widespread authority to print money the way that we have.”
The candidate then explained that the dollar’s value should be pegged to “actual hard commodities,” possibly including crypto.
“Take something like Bitcoin,” he said, “Put other cryptocurrencies to one side, but something like Bitcoin, that has a fixed supply, that has an inherent defined value; I think that that is higher on the list to be included as a candidate in the foreseeable future.”
Such a basket of commodities would “anchor the value of the dollar,” he explained, adding that it would “tie the government’s hands from being able to just print its way out of whatever political convenience presents itself.”
Ramaswamy says ‘no’ to CBDCs
While supportive of innovations in digital cryptocurrency technology, Ramaswamy was clear in his opposition to the development of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, in the U.S.
The candidate warned against falling into the “trap of this siren song that just because China’s doing it, we need to do it.”
“Ask yourself, why is China doing it?” he said. “They want to be able to wipe your accounts clean if you say or do something that the government does not approve of. I think that’s frightening.”
Instead, Ramaswamy argued that the dollar becomes more desirable as a global reserve currency if it does not follow the same path as China’s digital yuan and enable the government to punish dissenters. He added that he would “put an end” to the FedNow instant payments program, arguing that it’s “laying the groundwork for the future of a central bank digital currency.”
“I’m against a CBDC in the US,” he said, “and this idea that China’s doing it and the yuan is going to be ahead and we need to keep up with the Joneses or as the case may be, keep up with the Jinpings — I reject that to the contrary.”
“Taking the opposite approach would be a better way of preserving the dollar’s status as the reserve currency of the world,” he concluded.
