Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul has ran his campaign on two platforms: liberty and technology. And he’s even incorporated the digital currency favored by some of his tech-savvy constituents: bitcoin.
As his campaign works to build up its bitcoin donations (along with the rest of them), he’s also focused on building a technology council. And to help take his campaign to the next level, he’s brought on a few big names to help pave the way for his issues to make the stage — at least when it comes to how financial and technology issues are talked about in political debates. Last week, Paul announced that Overstock’s CEO Patrick Byrne (a bitcoin supporter) was appointed to the council. Other members appointed include Michele Weslander Quaid, Chief Technology Officer of Google; Thumbtack founder Jeremy Tunnell; and Brandon Hudgeons, Chief Operating Officer of Schoox.
Byrne was a particularly interesting pick for Paul and he has been the most outspoken CEO in favor of bitcoin, and has embraced it as a payments method for retail platforms. Recently, Overstock.com has offered discounts to those who pay in bitcoin as a way to encourage more to use the digital currency. Paul recently spoke at an event hosted by the Bitcoin Center NYC and the startup Blockchain Technologies Corp., as he continued on his trail of being the first presidential candidate to accept bitcoin.
Paul has praised benefits of utilizing bitcoin and the blockchain technology as an alternative way to send and receive money and buy/sell goods. He’s also opened a Silicon Valley office, showing he’s keeping his campaign invested in the tech-savvy culture that promotes entrepreneurship and startups.
“We thought being around a lot of startup companies and bright individuals would be a good place for the tech people we’re gathering together to come up with ideas about helping us to find our voters and get them out,” Paul said an interview.
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