DeSantis stakes out a spot as the chief anti-Fed and pro-crypto candidate for 2024

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis positioned himself at the furthest edge of the 2024 field on the twin issues of the Federal Reserve and cryptocurrency as he unveiled his economic plans this week.

DeSantis now has perhaps the most aggressive stance in the field when it comes to the Fed. He said he’ll “reign in” the central bank during a speech Monday and then went further in an interview with The Wall Street Journal by floating the idea of ousting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before his term expires in 2026.

DeSantis also offered more details around his stance on cryptocurrency. The Florida governor again slammed the idea of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) which he paired with a strong defense of the embattled sector overall.

“We are going to let Americans invest in things like bitcoin and cryptocurrency,” he said Monday. “Biden’s war on bitcoin and cryptocurrency will come to an end when I become president.”

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves to guests during a campaign event to unveil his economic platform on Monday in Rochester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The platform that DeSantis fleshed out this week aligns with his ongoing attempt to pivot his campaign away from a predominant focus on culture war issues to include a populist economic message aimed at toppling “elites” across American society. It also sets up a clear contrast on these issues with GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

It was Trump who appointed Powell to his seat atop the Fed in 2017 — before criticizing him for the rest of his term. Trump has also been skeptical of cryptocurrency over the years, saying in 2017 he was “not a fan” and adding in 2021 that bitcoin “seems like a scam” in a Fox Business interview.

DeSantis is currently looking for any avenue to regain traction against the former president as the gap between Trump and the rest of the field continues to widen. A recent Yahoo News/YouGov survey found Trump with a 25-point advantage over DeSantis and a New York Times/Siena College poll released this week finds an even wider 37-point margin.

On the Fed, DeSantis is among a range of contenders at the central bank. Like DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy want to end the Fed’s dual mandate and focus solely on inflation.

Ramaswamy has also discussed an idea to cut 90% of the staff at the Fed and “I intend to make the 2024 presidential race in part a referendum on the proper role of our central bank.”

Trump has of course had a complicated relationship with the Fed for awhile now. Trump railed against Powell for years but left office with little in the way of structural changes to show for it. Trump has made increasing presidential power over the federal bureaucracy but has remained vague on the question of whether the Fed would be included.

Either way, no other candidate has apparently discussed ousting Powell before his term expires, as DeSantis floated this week. During his term, the Trump administration before dropping the idea.

DeSantis’s position on the Fed also puts him in a similar camp as many Democrats on the far left who have long criticized Powell, a registered Republican. The loudest Powell critic from the left is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) who that Powell has two jobs and “has failed at both.”

On crypto, perhaps the most outspoken candidate in the field is Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is running as a long-shot candidate on the GOP side and the “crypto capital of the world.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist running on the Democratic side, has also positioned himself as a strong crypto defender. The long-shot candidate to underpin the value of the dollar.

He also slammed the idea of a central bank digital currency, it could “grease the slippery slope to financial slavery and political tyranny.”

For his part, President Biden has taken a more nuanced approach to the two issues by re-nominating Powell as the leader of the Fed in 2021 and commenting sparingly on cryptocurrency. The SEC under Biden-nominee Gary Gensler has cracked down on various of crypto assets during recent years .