Regulation
Is Kamala Harris Open to Cryptocurrency Regulation?
Since Joe Biden decided to withdraw his candidacy for the US presidential election in November, naming Kamala Harris as his possible successor, there has been much speculation about Harris’ stance on cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency regulation.
The problem is that Harris has never made any explicit public statements on the matter, so we are forced to limit ourselves to speculation.
Mark Cuban’s Idea
Yesterday Mark Cuban expressed his opinion on the matter.
Cuban is both a crypto supporter and a Democrat, so he is certainly not an impartial source. However, in the absence of more precise information, one cannot help but take into consideration statements from biased sources, if they are informed by the facts.
Yesterday the billionaire famous for being the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, gave an interview to Politico during which he spoke specifically about Kamala Harris.
Cuban says the feedback he’s getting about Harris is that she’ll be much more open for business, artificial intelligenceand cryptocurrencies than it has done so far.
US Vice President: Will Kamala Harris Support Cryptocurrency Regulation?
Kamala Harris is currently Joe Biden’s vice president.
For the past four years, he has operated in the shadow of the president, never taking initiatives that went against Biden’s political line.
In other words, it has adapted to its role, leaving strategic decisions to its president.
Therefore, it has also substantially adapted to the policy against cryptocurrency of the Biden administration, even if in 2024 something has changed from this point of view.
In fact, truth be told, the Biden administration hasn’t done much to hamper the cryptocurrency market, although it has seemed to be in line with the attitude of the Democratic Party in Congress, which has effectively blocked the cryptocurrency regulation process that has been stalled for years. Furthermore, many Democrats have taken initiatives against cryptocurrencies, starting from the Attorney General of New York to the Chairman of the SEC Gary Gensler.
Harris has never opposed all this, but she has never clearly expressed her support for this campaign. She has preferred to remain in the shadows.
The turning point
The hypothesis circulating is that perhaps he did not entirely agree with all the political choices of Biden, his administration, and his party’s senators and representatives in Congress.
He may have simply decided to refrain from commenting on issues he disagreed with in order to maintain good relations with the president.
Cuban himself says that she should be the one to take care of it now, and this could change his attitude, making him more open towards the company.
It should be noted that Kamala Harris is not technically yet the Democratic Party’s nominee to challenge Republican Donald Trump in November, but she appears to be the clear favorite, so much so that no one seems to be seriously considering other options.
Harris’s Past
One thing that not everyone knows is that Kamala Harris has been close to the business world in the past, particularly that of Silicon Valley.
She was born in Oakland, California, on the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since 2003, she has been the district attorney of San Francisco and in 2010 she became attorney general for all of California.
He has therefore had relationships for many years with Californian manufacturing companies, such as those in Silicon Valley, although mainly from a legal point of view.
Politically, as far as economics goes, she has mainly focused on consumer protection and fraud, so in theory, she may not be very close to the cryptocurrency industry, but she is also a strong advocate for privacy.
But what is most telling about her stance on business is that she has in the past asked for donations from Silicon Valley business leaders, who have often responded with generous checks. In fact, one of them, LinkedIn co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman, has already announced his support for Harris.
USA: Kamala Harris and the regulation of cryptocurrencies
All of this suggests that Harris’s attitude toward the cryptocurrency industry, and especially its regulation, may differ from Biden’s.
However, a clarification is necessary.
At the moment, some polls show Harris ahead of Trump in terms of approval and therefore in possible number of votes in November.
But despite this, the favorite to win continues to be Trump.
In fact, the US electoral system does not elect president who gets the most votes, but who gets the most delegates in individual states. Trump still seems to be ahead in many key states, so, just as happened in 2016, he could win even with fewer overall votes.
Therefore, if Harris were to lose the November election, all considerations regarding her possible attitude towards cryptocurrency regulation would fall on deaf ears.
Now it will be up to her, once she has officially obtained the nomination, to clearly explain her position regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies which, in the four years of the Biden administration, during which she was vice president, remained blocked in Congress without making real and concrete progress.
Considering that even the EU now has clear regulations on cryptocurrencies, it seems really strange that the US has lagged behind in this regard. After all, it was the Democrats who put a spoke in the wheels of the cryptocurrency regulation process, and it is not certain that under Harris’ leadership things could actually be different.