President Elect Donald Trump met with bitcoin entrepreneur and Thiel partner, Balaji S. Srinivasan. Trump is considering Srinivasan’s candidacy to lead the FDA during his time in office. This candidacy is quite likely the result of Peter Thiel’s influence on the Trump administration as an advisor. Thiel is an investor in Srinivasan’s 21 Inc bitcoin startup. Srinivasan is also a scholar, with proven knowledge in various fields that are related to research in medical science. The combination of his knowledge, his position on the FDA and his ability as a top bitcoin entrepreneur, could usher in a new era in the way the FDA operates.

Trump Decision Making: First Hurdle

Before all the bitcoin community gets excited about the possibilities, Trump must select Srinivasan, who is competing with former Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman Jim O’Neil for the job. If history is an indicator of things to come, Trump would probably go with O’Neil instead, but only time will tell. The Republican Party could be open to a more edgy pick in Srinivasan. The GOP has also shown it is receptive to blockchain technology and its stance in favor of de-regulation is clear. This fits Srinivisan’s background and views, but Trump is not too likely to let the Party’s views influence his decision too much.

Srinivasan and his Bitcoin Expertise at the service of the FDA

No matter how the politics play out, Srinivasan’s candidacy awakened some speculation about how he might revolutionize the FDA. Given his background and judging from one of his tweets about the FDA on March 22nd, 2016, he could venture into decentralizing FDA vetting procedures. The tweet reads as follows: “New tech also allows far better regulation than FDA. Scan a drug barcode, get 1000 worldwide MD opinions and 1 million patient self reports.” Srinivasan could use bitcoin as the argument to test the implementation of a blockchain-driven system to make his tweet a reality.

Srinivasan tweeted this on March 22nd, 2016. Was he hinting at the use of blockchain to decentralize FDA regulation processes? Screen shot from Twitter.

As long as Srinivasan is just a Candidate, Bitcoin will remain on the sidelines of a Trump Administration

In any case the Bitcoin community will have to wait and see if Srinivasan can make reality resemble his tweet. In the meantime only Trump has the power to turn tweets into reality; he holds the key. Srinivisan’s candidacy will also test Thiel’s influence on the Trump administration as a trusted advisor. There is no doubt that Trump is looking for FDA reform and lower drug prices for Americans. The real question is will he go down the high-tech road, or will he choose a more traditional approach with his FDA pick.