The crypto world was abuzz this week with rumors that Kamala Harris, the newly declared Democratic presidential candidate, was in talks to talk on the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville.
Whereas the marketing campaign in the end confirmed that Harris wouldn’t be capable to attend, the truth that her crew was critically contemplating the invitation alerts a possible shift within the Democratic Occasion’s strategy to digital property, as crypto has performed a key position within the presidential race.
Harris’ Rumored Professional-Bitcoin Advisors
Beneath the Biden administration, crypto has confronted an more and more hostile regulatory surroundings, with the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) ramping up enforcement actions in opposition to numerous companies within the trade, together with Binance, Coinbase, and Ripple.
Biden’s financial advisors have included outspoken crypto critics akin to Senator Elizabeth Warren, casting a pall of uncertainty over the way forward for digital property, in stark distinction to the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF markets in January and final Monday, respectively.
Nevertheless, sources from the Harris marketing campaign recommend that the California senator could also be “extra open-minded” concerning cryptocurrency and blockchain know-how.
In line with one crypto lobbyist and former White Home advisor who spoke to Fortune on the situation of anonymity, her tech advisor is believed to be pro-crypto, and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, is a “crypto man.” crypto lobbyist mentioned:
She doesn’t have lots of time to redefine herself. She has a really brief window to form of definitively say that she’s her personal particular person.
Including to the potential shift in stance on crypto, billionaire investor and Bitcoin fanatic Mark Cuban revealed that he has obtained “a number of questions from the Harris camp about crypto,” additional fueling hopes {that a} Harris presidency may usher in a extra collaborative strategy between regulators and key trade gamers.
Kamala Harris’ California Ties And Professional-Enterprise Report
The distinction with the Biden administration’s place is powerful. “President Joe Biden’s marketing campaign would have supplied an automated rejection” of an invite to talk on the Bitcoin 2024 convention, in accordance with the Fortune report.
The present White Home has been sluggish to cross crypto-related laws in Congress, whereas the SEC has ramped up enforcement actions underneath the management of Chairman Gary Gensler.
However, Kamala Harris has a historical past of advocating for Silicon Valley as a US senator representing California. The report notes that she has cultivated “shut relationships” with tech trade leaders, together with Meta’s Sheryl Sandberg, incomes a popularity as a pro-business politician.
This background, mixed with the “crypto-friendly” connections inside her personal crew, has the trade hopeful {that a} Harris presidency may considerably shift the federal government’s strategy to digital property.
Nevertheless, it stays to be seen whether or not these hopes will translate into concrete coverage adjustments within the months and years forward.
On the time of writing, Bitcoin was buying and selling at $67,590, up over 4% previously 24 hours from a weekly low of $63,500.
Featured picture from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com