Kamala Harris’ Campaign Takes on Cryptocurrency Industry

Advisers to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign have reached out to major cryptocurrency industry players to develop relationships that could eventually inform a regulatory framework, sources said. Financial Times.

In recent days, this outreach effort has included cryptocurrency exchanges Monetary basestablecoin firm Circle and blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs, according to the report.

A source told the FT that the message Harris wants to convey is that Democrats are “pro-business, responsible business.”

His rise to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket is also seen as an opportunity to repair ties with the tech sector, after the Biden administration’s regulatory stance created a backlash in what has traditionally been a more progressive sector.

Harris’ campaign, Coinbase and Circle did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Ripple spokesperson pointed to recent remarks CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted on the social media platform. X.

Friday, he urged Harris to distance herself from “people like this who spout absolute nonsense,” referring to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) who has been a harsh critic of cryptocurrencies.

“Democrats are not getting votes for being anti-crypto (and therefore anti-innovation), while Republicans are getting votes for embracing and encouraging innovation here in the United States,” Garlinghouse said. “It’s time to catch up with so many other leading economies and governments with clear rules of the road.”

And in a post on wednesdayHe cautioned against jumping to conclusions about candidates based solely on their party, adding that Harris is familiar with Silicon Valley and has the opportunity to make a difference on issues like cryptocurrency regulation.

“For now, I’ll keep an open mind, but I also agree that if he uses the same Elizabeth Warren rhetoric, then he has miscalculated Gary Gensler’s political responsibility,” he wrote.

Indeed, SEC Chairman Gensler has drawn particular ire, including from Democratic allies like billionaire Mark Cuban, who recently asked Biden to fire him.

But Cuban, a well-known cryptocurrency enthusiast, said Decipher that Harris’ campaign advisers also recently reached out to him.

“I’m getting a lot of questions from his camp about cryptocurrencies,” he said Tuesday. “So I take that as a good sign.”

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has begun to make overtures toward the cryptocurrency sector, after changing his previously skeptical stance and speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference on Saturday.

This is because the presidential election has emerged as a major fault line. dividing Silicon Valleywith venture capital partners Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowtiz, as well as the Trump-supporting Winklevosses. On the other side, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and SV Angel’s Ron Conway are among other big names in tech who have publicly backed Harris.

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