Billionaire Howard Schultz, the bitcoin-bashing former CEO of Starbucks has been considering running for US president since he seems to be disgusted with the bitter political gridlock that he has been seeing today. His net worth tops $3.3 billion and he was the CEO of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2017. He now has plans of joining the growing list of liberal candidates who publicly announced their candidacy.
Schultz, on Twitter, announced that he would run as a “centrist independent” since he was fed up with the entrenched, ineffective two-party system in the United States.
I love our country, and I am seriously considering running for president as a centrist independent.
— Howard Schultz (@HowardSchultz) 28 January 2019
This moment is like no other. Our two parties are more divided than ever. Let’s discuss how we can come together to create opportunities for more people. #ReimagineUS https://t.co/9UY46OTO0I
— Howard Schultz (@HowardSchultz) 28 January 2019
Schultz ended up blasting both Democrats and Republicans and said that they were petty, destructive partisan warfare which didn’t serve the American people.
Schultz told 60 Minutes- “We are living in a most-fragile time. Not only is the fact that the president is not qualified, but the fact that both parties have been consistently not doing what was supposed to be necessary on behalf of the American people. [Politicians] have been engaged, every single day, in revenge politics.“
Amid all this, how would a US presidency under Howard Schultz be able to impact the bitcoin and the blockchain industry? It is hard to decide. Schultz previously slammed bitcoin and said that t has no future and is not “legitimate.”
In January 2018, Schultz was quoted- “I don’t believe that bitcoin will be a currency today or in the future.“
Schultz said that a much trusted, crypto (other than Bitcoin) might become the currency of the future. He went on to say that it needs to be tethered to a “legitimate” brick-and-mortar establishment “where the consumer will have trust and confidence in the company which would provide such a transaction.“
Schultz is a fan of blockchain technology.
He hinted that Starbucks, which has more than 28,000 locations worldwide, has also been considering to integrate blockchain into their mobile app.
He said- “I think blockchain technology is probably the rails which an integrated app such as Starbucks will be sitting on top of.“
Another progressive politician who threw their hat in the ring is Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Gabbard electrified the media when she declared her candidacy two weeks back. The crypto community took note that Gabbard had invested in crypto once.
