The crypto industry is facing criticism for insufficient support of free speech. After Charlie Kirk’s murder last week, the community has been silent on Trump’s new wave of McCarthyist mass firings.
Many of the same personalities who spent President Biden’s term defending free speech are either silent or actively gloating about this situation. One thing is certain: crypto has changed in the last few years.
Crypto, Free Speech, and Charlie Kirk
Bitcoin was invented with libertarian principles to be trustless and borderless, and free speech has long been a crucial issue for the crypto community.
Many prominent community figures strenuously pushed back against deplatforming under Biden’s Presidency, calling it a free speech violation.
Now, however, a new crisis clearly shows how far the space has transformed. Since the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk last week, President Trump has stirred up a mass firing campaign, targeting teachers, government workers, and ordinary citizens for alleged social media comments.
Last night, the FCC threatened ABC with the removal of its license, compelling the channel to cancel a popular talk show. This seems like a pretty open-and-shut free speech issue, but many crypto leaders apparently don’t see it that way.
The main reaction has been silence, causing some industry veterans to criticize this apparent hypocrisy.
Since the crypto community rallied in support of free speech earlier this year, even winning significant support, this silence is particularly noteworthy.
These same leaders are often very close to the President, representing some of his largest donors. Their reactions paint a telling picture.
Silence and Gloating
Many leading figures have simply said nothing. David Bailey, a key Trump ally, condemned Kirk’s murder as an attack on free speech hours after it happened.
However, while civil liberties groups warn that President Trump’s participation in this firing spree is reminiscent of McCarthyism, Bailey has yet to make the same comparisons.
Some crypto leaders have taken a louder approach. Over the past few years, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson repeatedly decried corporate attacks on free speech, criticizing private companies for their aggression against crypto.
This week, the same man has been justifying these crackdowns. He even used cliches about deplatforming that would fit right in under the Biden administration:
“Freedom of speech doesn’t mean consequence-free speech. It means the government can’t deplatform you. Private individuals and businesses are absolutely free to discriminate as they see fit,” Hoskinson recently said.
All that is to say, this free speech controversy is a useful barometer for the crypto industry. Things have changed dramatically in the last few years, and the universal values from Satoshi’s day might not be quite so important now.
In this uncertain environment, it can be difficult to tell what the community still truly values.
