Bitcoin
Kamala and Crypto? How Biden’s Potential Surrogates Feel About Bitcoin
With important members of his own party reviving a push to keep President Joe Biden out of the 2024 election, attention has now turned to the handful of prominent Democrats who could take his place at the top of the ticket.
As the prospect of this major shift looms, many in the crypto world are asking: how might these changes affect cryptocurrencies?
Several prominent cryptocurrency policymakers have recently counted Decipher that any Biden replacement would be a welcome change, as the crypto regulatory landscape could hardly get more hostile than it has been under the Biden administration.
That said, there are still important differences between the top contenders for the Democratic nomination when it comes to crypto. Here’s a look at the top candidates to replace Biden and how they might lead.
Kamala Harris
By a wide margin, the current top choice to replace the president is his vice president, Kamala Harris.
Harris began her political career by winning a race in 2010 to become district attorney of tech-friendly San Francisco. When she was elected vice president in 2020, her endorsement was widely seen as a boon for tech companies and Silicon Valley.
But the former prosecutor has remained remarkably mum when it comes to crypto. Harris appears, in fact, to have never made a public statement on the subject.
When it comes to AI, another polarizing new technology, the vice president has been quite critical—often pointing out the threat of innovation to human rights and democratic principles.
But AI is not crypto, even if the industries sometimes overlap. And there also seems to be little lost love between Harris and Elizabeth Warren, the outspoken Democratic senator rumors be the driving force behind Biden’s anti-cryptocurrency agenda.
So Harris’s presidency could easily be a case of luck when it comes to cryptocurrencies, with ample room for the policy to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor or forge her own path.
Gretchen Whitmer
One of the Democrats’ rising stars, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has built a reputation as a swing-state rabble-rouser who has found great success by unabashedly embracing progressive causes.
However, Whitmer has also indicated very little about her stance on cryptocurrencies one way or the other.
But it is a product of Michigan politics, and Democrats in the Midwestern state have been more open to working toward a cryptocurrency regulatory framework than others.
Both of Michigan’s Democratic senators, for example, have supported pro-industry legislation. Senator Gary Peters broke with Biden in May to repeal an SEC rule that banned banks from holding cryptocurrencies, while Senator Debbie Stabenow interest shown in the development of digital asset regulations.
And Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the leading Democratic candidate to replace Stabenow when the senator retires in January, currently sports an “A” rating from Stay with Cryptoa pro-industry non-profit organization.
Gavin Newsom
California Governor Gavin Newsom has the most visible track record on crypto of any potential Biden replacement, and for good reason: Many of the nation’s top crypto companies are based in his state.
Newsom has wavered a bit on crypto over the years, as he has with other controversial issues. In 2022, the veteran California politician vetoed a bill that would have required cryptocurrency companies in the state to acquire a state-approved license to operate, despite calling for such a system months in advance.
Crypto advocates welcomed the veto, but a year later, Newsom voted again, signing a cryptocurrency business licensing framework into law.
While some industry advocates are concerned that the legislation — which is set to take effect next year — could have negative ramifications, others were “encouraged” by Newsom’s insistence that he wants to keep cryptocurrency innovation in California.
The proof may be in the pudding: in the nine months since the legislation became law, crypto giants like Coinbase It is Block remained in the state.
JB Pritzker
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, is one of the most outspoken pro-crypto Democrats, reportedly in the running to take over Biden’s collapsing campaign.
“The future of cryptocurrency is in Illinois,” Pritzker he said in August 2021, long before many politicians took a position on the matter.
But since then, the Midwestern governor has largely abandoned crypto as a key component of his governing agenda, while pushing to keep Illinois competitive. pro-business environment and a center for the development of emerging technologies such as Quantum computing.
Edited by Andre Hayward