Former congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard addressed the audience at Bitcoin 2023 today, focusing on the institutional problems with U.S. politics and elected leaders who seek to consolidate power rather than serve constituents.

“I served in Congress for eight years and ran for president in 2020, and while we like to have this idea that we have great courageous leaders in Washington … unfortunately, that’s not the case,” Gabbard said. “Ultimately, they’re driven by a fear of losing power and losing control and, at the heart of it, they’re afraid of us. They’re afraid of a free society.”

In particular, she highlighted the Biden administration’s exploration of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), underscoring how such a project would be antithetical to the privacy- and freedom-preserving qualities of cash transactions. As outlined in its white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, “Bitcoin: A Peer-To-Peer Electronic Cash System,” Bitcoin was designed to preserve these qualities in a digital way.

“The Biden administration’s move toward implementing a central bank digital currency is their latest effort towards exerting control and taking away our freedom,” Gabbard said. “No matter how many flowery words they use to deny that there is ill intent… no matter how many times they say, ‘Hey this is for your own good’… But ultimately, we know this is about their insatiable mission and desire for total control.”

She also suggested that those in power are combative toward or disinterested in Bitcoin because it cannot be manipulated by any third parties.

“You would think they would be interested in how Bitcoin is transforming the lives of people around the world, but they don’t actually care about people,” she said.