While the vice president has stayed quiet on cryptocurrency policy, the crypto community is eager to hear from her
Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining traction in presidential election polls on the crypto gambling platform Polymarket. Current betting indicates a 49% chance of Donald Trump winning in November, while Harris is projected to have a 51% chance of emerging victorious.
Interestingly, despite Harris’s silence on cryptocurrency issues, there is an ongoing discussion on whether the crypto community has started backing her. Republican candidate Donald Trump, who positioned himself as a crypto-friendly leader by attending the Bitcoin conference and promoting himself as a “crypto candidate,” received significant support earlier this year from major crypto companies and entrepreneurs.
As a relatively new technology, the crypto industry’s dynamics are constantly evolving. Harris has not clearly articulated her stance on crypto policy.
Alexander Blume, CEO of Two Prime, an SEC-regulated RIA specializing in digital asset derivatives and a former technology advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, doesn’t suggest taking Polymarket numbers too seriously. In an email to Quartz, Blume said that those numbers are purely gambling odds, not an expression of people’s political opinions. He acknowledged that Harris’s chances of winning have improved, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that support within the crypto community has shifted toward Harris, as her political views still do not align with crypto interests.
“I don’t think she is gaining support from the crypto community. The events her staff have held have been poorly attended and contentious,” Blume said in an email.
Harris has not been vocal on crypto, but her team has been working on getting support from the crypto community. Last week, a new group called Crypto4Harris held its first virtual gathering to support her campaign and push her to end the Biden administration’s crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry.
Although Harris did not attend the Crypto4Harris event, several Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, assured attendees during the virtual town hall that she would advocate for crypto-friendly regulations.
A group of leading crypto executives participated in a conference call earlier this month with White House officials and an adviser to Harris, sharing their concerns about current and future crypto regulations. The meeting was considered a strategic effort to shape Harris’ policy on crypto-related issues, as she has not made her stance on crypto regulation clear.
The crypto community is largely composed of young professionals, primarily millennials and Gen Zers, who value financial freedom. Harris has deep connections in the tech industry and is significantly younger than her opponent.
While Blume doesn’t believe that Harris is gaining so much support from the crypto community, Moe Vela, a senior advisor at Unicoin and former adviser to Joe Biden during his vice presidency, is optimistic about her approach towards crypto. In an email to Quartz, Vela mentioned Harris’s recently hiring of David Plouffe and Gene Sperling, who bring extensive experience from Binance and Ripple, respectively.
“She is a younger generation than Trump and Biden and represented Silicon Valley in the Senate, which gives her a relatable demeanor to the crypto community,” Vela added.
Several months ago, the crypto community rallied behind Trump, anticipating favorable regulatory guidance and policies. Blume told Quartz last week that the crypto industry “got a little drunk on the excitement and largely threw in with the Trump campaign.”
With Harris now surging in the polls, the crypto industry faces a challenging situation, with concerns about potential political repercussions if Trump doesn’t win, Blume added.
“Will the crypto industry be viewed by Democrats as being too ‘Republican,’ or too pro-Trump?” Blume told Quartz last week. “Will that limit the possibilities for meaningful policy changes if Kamala Harris becomes the next president?”
It would be wise for Harris to capitalize on her momentum and address the crypto space soon. Vela recommends that the Harris campaign announce her policy ideas related to crypto.
“It must include a regulatory environment that will enable growth, reward innovation, protect consumers/investors, and weed out nefarious bad actors,” he said.
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