US Senate candidate says Bitcoin grants freedom

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Morgan Harper began his Bitcoin learning trajectory. The 38-year-old Ohio Senate candidate is looking for opportunities that the decentralized monetary network can bring to her constituents – a push for decentralization of power – which she believes is overdue.

“One of the biggest problems in our society is too much centralized power in too few hands, which produces anti-competitive effects that empower incumbents and inhibit innovation,” Harper told Bitcoin Magazine. “It shifts power to a few big cities and a few dominant players within each market and away from people in states like Ohio.”

The Progressive Democrat entered the race for the US Senate in August, running for the seat held by Rob Portman, a Republican senator who announced in January that he would not run for a third term in 2022. Harper takes on Tim Ryan, a Democrat from long time. member of Congress who served 10 terms and leads in campaign awareness and fundraising.

Harper was born to a teenage mother and lived with a foster family for almost a year before being adopted and raised by a public school teacher. She graduated from Stanford Law School and was a Senior Policy Advisor at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In a Nov. 9 Twitter thread, Harper explained that she first heard about Bitcoin during her time at CFPB. Her curiosity has since grown and the candidate began to realize the potential of Bitcoin as a tool for individual financial empowerment.

“I am intrigued by the concept of decentralized networks, where we can benefit from network effects without concentrating power in the hands of a few people or companies,” Harper said, adding that so far it has been “mainly focused on Bitcoin and its potential to disintermediate banks and serve as a store of value.

Harper said that for his state, Bitcoin could help create economic power and freedom for individuals so that Ohioans are less dependent on “oversized businesses that stifle growth and innovation in a rigged system. their favor ”.

Bitcoin has been very appealing to underserved communities in countries like El Salvador and Nigeria, where clumsy and unequal financial systems prevent many people from getting even the most basic access to money and banking services. The peer-to-peer (P2P) monetary network aims to restore financial sovereignty by allowing anyone to store and exchange value, regardless of gender, skin color, or power status.

“In contrast, traditional banks put you at the mercy of arbitrary and often discriminatory policies,” Harper said. “Banks are created to favor the rich, with privileged access and privileged conditions. But a lot of working class people in Ohio don’t enjoy these benefits. Instead, they charge hidden overdraft fees and almost no return on their capital.

Harper’s interest led her to undertake a listening tour, seeking to learn more about what government officials could do to help promote innovation through public policy while protecting investors. Although she is interested in Bitcoin and its potential, Harper said she does not own BTC because she seeks to work without investment bias.

“Politicians who buy and sell financial assets while exerting immense influence in all sectors undermine our democracy and fuel people’s mistrust of the political process,” she said. “I want the law to be correct for this asset class for the people of Ohio, not because I have everything to gain financially.”

Harper will face Ryan in the Democratic primary on May 3, 2022. Voters will elect a single member to the United States Senate from Ohio in the general election, which is slated for November next year.

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