Coinbase’s Chief Financial Officer, Alesia Haas, announced that U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris is utilizing the exchange’s payment platform to accept digital asset donations for her campaign, as reported by Fortune.
A representative from the exchange clarified to the publication that the political action committee (PAC) Future Forward USA has initiated collaboration with Coinbase Commerce.
The organization is officially raising funds for the Democratic Party contender. By July, the amount had reached $50 million. As of early September, the committee’s total funds amounted to $163.9 million, according to OpenSecrets.
The non-custodial service Coinbase Commerce facilitates payments in several cryptocurrencies. The platform automatically converts the user’s chosen asset into the stablecoin USDC to mitigate volatility risks.
Coinbase Commerce supports ApeCoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, DAI, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, SHIBA INU, USDT, and USDC. MATIC, USDC, and WETH can also be used on the Polygon L2 network.
The support group Crypto4Harris stated they are unaware if Harris is receiving donations in digital assets.
In a conversation with Citigroup’s Peter Christiansen, Haas confidently stated:
“She is accepting cryptocurrency donations for her campaign and is now using Coinbase Commerce for this purpose.”
According to her, throughout the second quarter, Coinbase contributed to Fairshake — a PAC that funds candidates supporting the crypto industry.
Haas described political spending as a “rare opportunity” to achieve regulatory clarity. Regarding Fairshake’s efforts, she expressed cautious optimism about the committee’s attempts to pass industry legislation.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the company and its supported PAC have not allocated funds to Harris or her opponent Donald Trump, as reported by Bloomberg.
The Republican candidate began accepting digital asset donations for his campaign in May. Following Trump’s participation in the July Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, the amount of crypto donations reached $25 million.
In August, journalists questioned Harris’s support for the crypto industry due to her absence from Crypto4Harris events. Her campaign team refuted these claims.