Crypto US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug
Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as the Democratic presidential
nominee, the crypto industry has been hoping for a "reset" with the White House.
In other words, signs that Harris's views toward crypto will be friendlier than
President Joe Biden's.
However, the exact contours of her potential approach to the industry are likely to remain a mystery for a while, leaving crypto folks on pins and needles.
It's no secret that the industry has been on the defensive under the Biden administration. Agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission have relentlessly pursued crypto businesses, suing exchanges Coinbase Global Inc., Binance and Kraken, along with a number of other companies. Biden vetoed a repeal of rules that would have made offering crypto custody easer. Will the Harris administration be different?
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
There have been some signs that Harris may take a different tack. The newly formed grass-roots organization Crypto4Harris recently held a meeting. It included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said he hopes to pass legislation on digital assets soon. Many crypto executives have already talked to the Harris campaign, saying it has shown a willingness to listen to the industry's concerns something they hadn't seen from the Biden administration until this summer.
Still, while the industry is eager for details, the exact Harris crypto platform remains a blank sheet. The best the industry has gotten so far was during the Democratic National Convention, when a Harris campaign adviser said the party's nominee will back measures to help grow digital assets.
"I would be surprised if the Harris campaign came out with a detailed crypto platform before the election," said Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University's Washington College of Law. "Despite the enormous amounts of money that the crypto industry is pouring into the election, crypto simply isn't a salient issue for most voters." Harris has many more mainstream issues to focus on inflation, the Middle East conflict, you name it. Huge chunks of the population care about those issues.
While crypto voters may be vocal, their ranks are still quite small. Only about 7% of US adults held or used cryptocurrency in 2023, down 3 percentage points from 2022 and down 5 percentage points from 2021, according to a Federal Reserve survey last year. The number of people who care about crypto has likely expanded since the introduction of spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds, but folks who invest in them may know little or not care much about crypto's regulatory conundrums.
Crypto isn't mentioned in the official '24 Democratic Party Platform, released last week and comprised of 92 pages. (Crypto got a paragraph on the Republican agenda.) Harris didn't mention crypto in her DNC acceptance speech last Thursday.
However, the exact contours of her potential approach to the industry are likely to remain a mystery for a while, leaving crypto folks on pins and needles.
It's no secret that the industry has been on the defensive under the Biden administration. Agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission have relentlessly pursued crypto businesses, suing exchanges Coinbase Global Inc., Binance and Kraken, along with a number of other companies. Biden vetoed a repeal of rules that would have made offering crypto custody easer. Will the Harris administration be different?
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
There have been some signs that Harris may take a different tack. The newly formed grass-roots organization Crypto4Harris recently held a meeting. It included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said he hopes to pass legislation on digital assets soon. Many crypto executives have already talked to the Harris campaign, saying it has shown a willingness to listen to the industry's concerns something they hadn't seen from the Biden administration until this summer.
Still, while the industry is eager for details, the exact Harris crypto platform remains a blank sheet. The best the industry has gotten so far was during the Democratic National Convention, when a Harris campaign adviser said the party's nominee will back measures to help grow digital assets.
"I would be surprised if the Harris campaign came out with a detailed crypto platform before the election," said Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University's Washington College of Law. "Despite the enormous amounts of money that the crypto industry is pouring into the election, crypto simply isn't a salient issue for most voters." Harris has many more mainstream issues to focus on inflation, the Middle East conflict, you name it. Huge chunks of the population care about those issues.
While crypto voters may be vocal, their ranks are still quite small. Only about 7% of US adults held or used cryptocurrency in 2023, down 3 percentage points from 2022 and down 5 percentage points from 2021, according to a Federal Reserve survey last year. The number of people who care about crypto has likely expanded since the introduction of spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds, but folks who invest in them may know little or not care much about crypto's regulatory conundrums.
Crypto isn't mentioned in the official '24 Democratic Party Platform, released last week and comprised of 92 pages. (Crypto got a paragraph on the Republican agenda.) Harris didn't mention crypto in her DNC acceptance speech last Thursday.
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