Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has announced Senator JD Vance as his running mate for the 2024 election. Trump made the announcement on July 15 via Truth Social, revealing that the Ohio senator will join the ticket as the vice-presidential candidate for the Republican Party.

Vance is recognized as a strong supporter of cryptocurrencies, according to Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto initiative. In a 2022 financial disclosure for the U.S. Senate, Vance reported holding between $100,001 and $250,000 in Bitcoin through the crypto exchange Coinbase. He also supported a joint resolution to overturn a Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring banks to report crypto as a liability on their balance sheets, a measure that President Joe Biden ultimately vetoed.

Author of "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance has been in politics for less than two years, having won his Ohio Senate seat in 2022. Trump endorsed Vance during the 2022 midterm elections, and Vance in turn has endorsed Trump for the 2024 Republican primaries. This endorsement is notable given Vance's past criticisms of Trump, where he described Trump as “unfit” for the presidency, claimed he "never liked him," and called Trump voters "idiots."

The selection of Vance comes at a time when crypto and blockchain issues are becoming significant topics in the 2024 campaign. Trump has already announced that his campaign will accept crypto contributions, and he has influenced the Republican Party to adopt a platform that defends Bitcoin miners and opposes central bank digital currencies.