New Senate candidate Bryan Solstin claims Bitcoin as “the Great Reset,” but will it work in his favor? ๐จ This article is 3 years old...
New Senate candidate Bryan Solstin claims Bitcoin as “the Great Reset,” but will it work in his favor?
Bryan Solstin announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate and his doctrine seems to be built around the Great Reset theory. However, Solstin may not be a pro-crypto in general, and the Great Reset appeal may not find an audience.
3 min read
Updated: Mar. 16, 2022 at 4:08 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Last week, the world witnessed a successful utilization of crypto adoption in winning the presidential elections. It seems like Bryan Solstin has been watching and now is ready to give it a try himself.
What is Bryan (Bitcoin) Solstin’s take on crypto?
Bryan Solstin is a pro-Bitcoin Washington State Democrat who announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
Judging by his website cover, Solstin embrace Bitcoin well enough to use its symbol as his first name initial.
His website gives details on his political options under several sections. His stance on the issue of crypto is explained under the title of “Financial Inclusion and Inclusive Technology.” Solstin emphasizes that Bitcoin is truly decentralized, and its application to the financial channels is sure to accelerate all STEM fields.
His post states:
“The internetโs TCP/IP protocol demonstrates powerful decentralizing resiliency. Bitcoin is also decentralized. Unlike โcrypto,โ Bitcoin is a decentralized digital coin. TCP/IP and Bitcoin (BTC/LN) are integrating into financial channels having unexpected, unimaginable velocity.
He further adds:
“The emerging protocol will accelerate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing (STEM). STEMโs, digital transformation is strategic for providing wealth, abundance, and prosperity for everyone.”
Notice he specifically separates Bitcoin from “crypto” and only promotes Bitcoin. The reason behind this distinction is Solstin’s reference to Bitcoin as the “Great Reset.” In his candidacy declaration Tweet, he also identities his primary goal to make Bitcoin the Legal Tender in the USA because it’s the great reset.
I declare my candidacy for US Senate. Making #Bitcoin Legal Tender in the USA will be my primary objective on the Senate floor.#Bitcoin is the Great Reset.
— Bryan Solstin (@BryanBSolstin) March 15, 2022
What is the Great Reset?
The concept of the Great Reset was brought in daylight by the president of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Dr Klaus Schwab. In his book with the same title, Dr. Schwab argued that the existing world order was catastrophic and that the COVID pandemic was a chance to reset the global economy and the current environmental course.
To put it shortly, the Great Reset aims to transform the current financial system into a fully digital one which saves a lot of energy and therefore hinders the acceleration of global warming. However, the whole concept of Great Reset is raising criticisms because of its take on decentralization.
The Great Reset relies on the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) when conceptualizing complete digitalization. While it works out well for the digitalization of the system, it also destroys decentralization and puts immense power at the hands of the governments. As a result, Crypto enthusiasts have been harshly criticizing the centralization which would come with the Great Reset.
The opposers, on the other hand, argued that the original version of the Great Reset would not reset what needs to be reset, but in fact, it would make everything worse by increasing the power governments hold over global capital. They argued that real change in the global economy would allow decentralization and grant the ownership of money to its holders.
Does Solstin make sense?
Judging by his content, it is difficult to define where Solstin stands in this dispute.
By appealing to Bitcoin’s decentralization, he seems like he stands with the Great Reset opposition. However, it would be delusional to think that he’d argue against the CBDCs. His comments on the transformation of STEM indicate that he is pro-decentralized-great-reset in STEM-related fields only. His expressionย “unlike ‘crypto'” carried negative connotations, which suggest that he may have second thoughts on the complete decentralization of the monetary system.
All in all, it seems like Solstin is trying to find a middle ground and promoting partial decentralization, which is not the same as the Great Reset, but also not against it either. This middle ground was predicted by Ilias Lous Hatzis, the Founder of Mercato Blockchain Corp. In his recent blog post, he stated:
“If the WEF is serious about creating a more equitable world, then it will embrace crypto in ways like never before. But my guess is that the WEF will embrace blockchain in limited areas like supply chain management, and do everything it can to avoid giving people the freedom that comes along with cryptocurrencies.”
The question is, will Solstice be able to appeal to both sides of the Great Reset dispute enough to bring him a victory?
Author 
Zeynep Geylan
Zeynep is an academic who turned to crypto in 2018. Originating in social sciences, she is especially interested in the social impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies and strongly believes in their transmuting power.
