Yesterday saw a surprise meeting between Litecoin Founder Charlie Lee and Democratic US presidential candidate, Andrew Yang. It’s no secret that both have been outspoken in their beliefs surrounding blockchain and share a fascination with cryptocurrencies and the role they can play in society. Yang, not giving anything away tweeted a photo of the two and hinted at further collaboration in the future:

@SatoshiLite on being such a pioneer – let’s build the future.👍

Yang’s understanding and openness has lead him to be dubbed by some in the space as the ‘crypto candidate’. He is seen as someone who could potentially help greatly accelerate adoption of the technology throughout the US were he to be elected.

“Investment in cryptocurrencies and digital assets has far outpaced our regulatory frameworks in the US. We should let investors, companies, and individuals know what the landscape and treatment will be moving forward to support innovation and development. The blockchain has vast potential.”
“I believe that blockchain needs to be a big part of our future. If I’m in the White House, oh boy are we going to have some fun in terms of the crypto currency community.”

Yang has so far been the only candidate to activly address the emerging world or blockchain and crypto even going as far as having a dedicated page on his website laying out his plans on how government would handle this new asset class:

“As President, I will promote legislation that provides clarity in the cryptocurrency/digital asset market space by:
• Defining what a token is, and when it is a security (e.g., recognizing “utility tokens”)
•Define which federal agencies have regulatory power over the crypto/digital assets space
• Provide for consumer protections in the space
• Clarify the tax implications of owning, selling, and trading digital assets
• Promote the nationwide adoption of recognition of protections afforded by a series LLC
• Preempt state regulations when possible to create one national framework
•Work with the sponsors of the Token Taxonomy Act and Wyoming legislators to promote the above, largely modeled after their work.”

The meeting then, with Charlie Lee, would appear to be Yang’s bid to continue the good will that he has built up thus far and a potential intention of future collaboration, to help shape future regulatory framework with respected, knowledgeable figures within the space.