Jeremy Kauffman | |
---|---|
![]() Kauffman in 2022 | |
Born | September 19, 1984 |
Education | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (BS) |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | |
Political party | Libertarian |
Other political affiliations | Mises Caucus |
Website | jeremy4nh.com |
Jeremy Kauffman (born September 19, 1984) is an American entrepreneur and political activist known for founding and leading the blockchain-based filesharing project LBRY. [1] [2] Kauffman is also known as a vocal supporter and activist within the Free State Project (FSP) and a former board member. The FSP is a movement designed to get libertarians to move to the state of New Hampshire. Kauffman was the Libertarian nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in New Hampshire, losing to Democrat Maggie Hassan. [3]
Kauffman was born on September 19, 1984. [4] He earned two Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. [4] [5]
Jeremy Kauffman was CEO of TopScore [6] prior to formulating the idea for a version of YouTube that would be decentralized in its construction and operation. The result of this idea for a media and video viewing platform that claimed to be fully decentralized was called LBRY (pronounced as "library"). LBRY was launched in 2015. When asked about the purpose of LBRY and Odysee, Kauffman stated that while the LBRY blockchain could be used in a 'Wild West' kind of way, the main goal of the platform was to provide people with choices for content. [7]
Following an investigation by the SEC [8] regarding the issuance of a cryptocurrency token called "LBRY credit" (LBC)., [9] [10] [11] a federal judge in November 2022 ruled that LBC is legally a security that requires regulation by the SEC. [12] Kauffman has not yet commented on whether he intends to appeal the decision or to settle with the SEC [13] but has said the decision "threatens the entire U.S. cryptocurrency industry" by classifying "almost every cryptocurrency" as a security. [14] Upon hearing that Gary Gensler would be the head of the SEC, Kauffman was hopeful that an M.I.T. professor who specialized in cryptocurrency would be fair to the new industry and to not be "a complete sociopath." [15]
Odysee, an open-source video-sharing website that uses the LBRY network, was also founded by Kauffman in 2020. [16] While Kauffman has indicated that he would remove content from the Odysee platform that courts deem to be illegal, he has signaled support for the practice of putting 3D-printed gun blueprint files on the website by sharing such a file from his personal Twitter account. [17] [18]
In 2018, Kauffman joined the board of directors of the non-profit, the Free State Project. [19] [20] Kauffman believes that the Free State Project is the most effective way for libertarians to achieve "liberty in our lifetimes" and has debated this assertion in a public forum. [21] Kauffman is also a member of the Libertarian Party's Mises Caucus. [22]
In April 2021, Kauffman was given access to Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH)'s official Twitter account soon after the state party was taken over by the Mises Caucus. [20] Kauffman later made tweets on the LPNH account that received controversy, [23] such as calling for child labor to be legalized, saying "All Republicans do about wokeness is whine. Libertarians have solutions; repeal the Civil Rights Act [of 1964]", and re-opening the Guantanamo Bay detention camp "so that Anthony Fauci and every governor that locked their state down can be sent there, never again to be allowed inside of the United States". [24] The pro-child labor tweet specifically received pushback from 2012 and 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, saying "This isn't what libertarianism means to millions of Americans". [20] The tweets later partly resulted in the resignation of the national Libertarian Party leader Joe-Bishop Henchman. [20] [25] Kauffman defended his actions by saying the tweets were good for libertarians, and accused national party leadership of being "woke neoliberal globalists". [20]
At Porcupine Freedom Festival 2021, an annual libertarian festival held in New Hampshire, Executive Director of the Free State Project, Jeremy Kauffman and chair of the Libertarian Party Angela McArdle debated which strategy is more effective. Kauffman argued that, "There are more people in this room that are elected members to the NH House of Representatives and former members of the Libertarian Party than there are Libertarian Party members nationwide." McArdle argued that, while she wants to see the Free State Project succeed, the Free State Project could not have existed without the political infrastructure provided by the Libertarian Party developed over the course of five decades. [21]
In 2022, Kauffman ran for the United States Senate as a Libertarian in New Hampshire. In response to a question as to why he was running for office, he replied, "I'm the only one running that will actually make the government smaller". [4] Among his key campaign issues are "abolishing the Federal Reserve, the Internal Revenue Service and child-labor laws", [26] "making sure the lockdowns and restrictions can't happen again" and committing "to end the drug war". [27] In a New Hampshire Public Radio interview, Kauffman stated that he wanted "less democracy," elaborating that he does not want people in California and New York voting on his life in New Hampshire and that it is permissible to "let states disagree" under the U.S. system of federalism. [28] While some polls initially indicated that Kauffman's run would have a vote splitting effect between Maggie Hassan and Don Bolduc, [29] Hassan beat Bolduc by about 9 points, and Kauffman received about 2% of the total vote. [30]
In late September 2023, Kauffman was expelled from the Free State Project Board during a voting session. The vote came weeks after continued agitation by Kauffman against other Free State members such as Carla Gericke as well as the organizations founder Jason Sorens. The board cited Kauffman’s internet trolling and perceived promotion of racism on social media as reasons for his expulsion. [31] [32]
In 2024, Kauffman nominated Toad (Joshua Anderson) as a satirical presidential candidate at the 2024 Libertarian Convention. After holding up a sign "MAGA = Socialist" at an appearance of Donald Trump, Kauffman later endorsed Trump, calling the Libertarian nominee, Chase Oliver, a "gay race communist." [33]
Kauffman has four children with his wife Rachel. [4]
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Of the 50 U.S. states, New Hampshire is the fifth smallest by area and the tenth least populous, with a population of 1,377,529 residents as of the 2020 census. Concord is the state capital and Manchester is the most populous city. New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die", reflects its role in the American Revolutionary War; its nickname, "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries. It is well known nationwide for holding the first primary in the U.S. presidential election cycle, and for its resulting influence on American electoral politics.
The Libertarian Party (LP) is a political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The party was conceived in August 1971 at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado, and was officially formed on December 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs. The organizers of the party drew inspiration from the works and ideas of the prominent Austrian school economist Murray Rothbard. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the introduction of fiat money.
The Free State Project (FSP) is an American political migration movement founded in 2001 to recruit at least 20,000 libertarians to move to a single low-population state in order to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas. The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that the Free State Project is not a political party but a nonprofit organization.
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Gary Gensler is an American government official and former Goldman Sachs investment banker serving as the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gensler previously led the Biden–Harris transition's Federal Reserve, Banking, and Securities Regulators agency review team. Prior to his appointment, he was professor of Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH) is the New Hampshire affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). Active since its foundation in 1972, it is the third-largest political party in the state having had multiple members elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives as well as being ballot-qualified multiple times.
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LBRY is a blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network that powers decentralized platforms, primarily social networks and video platforms. LBRY's creators also created Odysee, an open-source video-sharing website that uses the network, which was split into a separate company on October 1, 2021. Video platforms built on LBRY, such as Odysee, have been described as decentralized, fringe alternatives to YouTube. Odysee lightly moderates content based on community guidelines; its web site delists videos containing pornography and the promotion of violence and terrorism, although delisted videos remain available on the platform's blockchain data store.
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