Ex-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is keeping active in his post-congressional life with his latest appointment to co-chair an organization that touts the benefits of Bitcoin, the most well-known form of cryptocurrency.

It is the third job for Ryan, a Howland Democrat, since he left Congress at the end of last year when he was defeated for a U.S. Senate seat by Republican J.D. Vance.

Ryan and Republican David McIntosh were named co-chairs of the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s new BPI Action, an organization that will lobby Congress in support of Bitcoin.

“I’m excited about working with former Republican Congressman David McIntosh on this bipartisan effort to educate the country about this technology,” said Ryan, who backed cryptocurrency legislation during his time in the U.S. House.

“The United States needs to be a leader in this space and that can only happen with transparent rules of the road,” Ryan said. “Our country was built on innovation and we should cultivate and nurture digital innovations.”

Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency, which is digital currency that can be used as payment for goods and services. Bitcoin took a huge hit last year after FTX, a major cryptocurrency company that was valued at $32 billion, went bankrupt in November causing the value of other digital coins to plummet. Bitcoin has since recovered and prospered.

Congress is also looking at new oversight regulations involving cryptocurrency.

A Bitcoin Policy Institute spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment on the Ryan hire.

Ryan spoke Wednesday at the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s Bitcoin summit in Washington, D.C. BPI Action was unveiled at the event.

The conference, according to the institute’s website, was designed to speak about “how Bitcoin is a human rights tool used in the struggle for democracy and global freedom, how the U.S. can leverage Bitcoin as a strategic asset to achieve its geopolitical goals and how Bitcoin can serve as a unique stabilizer of energy grids and unlikely player in our country’s renewable energy future.”

BPI CO-CHAIRS

The combination of Ryan and McIntosh is somewhat unique.

Ryan said the two share “common ground” on this issue.

During his 20 years in the U.S. House, Ryan was largely seen as a moderate Democrat with some liberal views. Ryan didn’t seek re-election last year to the House in order to run as a Democrat for the Senate seat. He lost by 6.11 percent to Vance. During his 10 terms in Congress, Ryan represented most of the residents of Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

McIntosh, a former three-term Indiana congressman, heads the Club for Growth, one of the top conservative anti-tax groups in Republican politics. Its affiliated political action committees and super PACs spent about $70 million to back anti-tax, free-trade federal candidates in the 2022 election. One of those PACs was focused on cryptrocurrency.

The Club for Growth supported former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in his failed Senate bid last year and is urging U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, to enter the 2024 U.S. Senate race in Ohio.

McIntosh is also co-founder of the Federalist Society, a conservative libertarian legal organization. All six of the conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court are current or former members of the group.

RYAN’S OTHER JOBS

Ryan was hired in January to serve on the two-member leadership council of Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future to serve on its two-member leadership council. Natural Allies, which is funded by several major natural gas companies, works to promote natural gas as clean energy.

Ryan was a proponent of natural gas during his time in Congress.

A month later, Ryan landed another job with an energy organization: a senior visiting fellow for Third Way, a center-left Democratic think tank. He is working to emphasize the role of American workers in the transition to clean energy and the benefit it has for them and U.S. competitiveness.

Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program says it advocates for policies that drive innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies and deliver the emission cuts needed to fight against climate change. It specifically advocates for nuclear technology saying more is needed than just expanding renewable energy such as wind and solar.

Those two jobs and the BPI position are part-time.

dskolnick@vindy.com