Crypto Campaign Launched in Support of Kamala Harris

Supporters of the U.S. Democratic Party within the cryptocurrency industry have initiated the Crypto for Harris campaign to counter Donald Trump’s appeals to the sector. Eleanor Terrett of FOX Business reports.

?NEW from me: Democrats launch ‘Crypto for Harris’ campaign to counter Trump’s industry appeal

The Democratic arm of the cryptocurrency industry is determined not to let Donald Trump run away with the crypto vote this fall.https://t.co/YOSGpv1AWt

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) August 7, 2024

Next week, a new group supporting Kamala Harris will hold a virtual meeting. Participants include billionaire and cryptocurrency advocate Mark Cuban, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, and several Democratic members of the House of Representatives.

Crypto for Harris consists of approximately 50 members, with key organizers being industry players and policy experts.

“The United States must remain a leader in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and groups like Crypto for Harris are working hard to ensure the right policies and communications are in place to achieve this outcome,” stated Jonathan Padilla, CEO of Web3 Snickerdoodle and a co-founder of the coalition.

In recent months, Donald Trump has positioned himself as the “crypto president,” promising industry support and regulatory changes. Speaking at the annual Bitcoin 2024 conference, the Republican candidate pledged to create a strategic bitcoin reserve and to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler “on the first day” after election. However, he will not be able to fulfill the latter promise immediately, as the elected president takes office in January 2025, noted Terrett.

Trump has also made significant strides in fundraising for his campaign from industry representatives. Among his major donors are the Winklevoss twins and Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell, each contributing $1 million in digital assets. During Bitcoin 2024, he managed to raise over $20 million in donations.

“We are not conceding this issue to Trump. We want to encourage innovation and protect consumers, but allowing cryptocurrencies to become a political football will only exacerbate the U.S.’s lag,” stated Congressman Wiley Nickel.

Terrett noted that at the end of July, Harris added two digital asset advisors to her team. They are former Binance advisory board member David Plouffe and Gene Sperling, who previously served on Ripple’s board.

“Bringing such experts into the campaign is a stronger statement than merely standing up at a bitcoin conference and pandering to the industry for votes,” opined Mo Vela of Unicoin.

According to Terrett, on August 8, a meeting organized by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna will take place between party officials and Harris advisors with representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, Stellar, and other industry companies.

According to Polymarket, Harris, who has yet to make any direct statements regarding cryptocurrencies, is already ahead of Trump—50% to 49%. The volume of bets on the outcome of the presidential election has approached $550 million.

Back in previous discussions, Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan concluded that politicians’ attitudes do not matter to the crypto industry. Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes expressed a similar opinion.