It seems weird to debate a US presidential election based on attitudes towards cryptocurrencies but, as previously blogged, Donald Trump is very pro-crypto. His attitude turned with NFTs of his image. Nothing like narcissism.
Back then, I was blogging about Donald Trump vs Joe Biden, and Biden looking like a loser. Now, we have Donald Trump vs Kamala Harris and, after this week’s presidential debate, it looks like Harris is rising and Trump falling. After all, when you resort to discussions of immigrants eating the local dogs and cats, something is wrong.
Nevertheless, as the debate went on, it made me wonder about the democrats view of crypto. After all, America’s support or attack on the use of cryptocurrency exchanges will have a big impact on the world view of cryptocurrencies.
I recently postulated that the Presidency may hinge on crypto. After all, around one in five American adults hold some form of cryptocurrency according to Pew Research, although they are not convinced such investments are safe.
But is this where a core battleground will form? Not sure.
So, what does Kamala Harris think about crypto?
We are not sure. Harris hasn't spoken at all about cryptocurrency, blockchain technology or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) publicly, and the few indirect messages she’s sending don’t paint a clear picture either.
One person who might know is Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban is an American businessman, investor and television presenter. He is one of the main “sharks” on the television series Shark Tank, a strong influencer of public opinion and an advocate of cryptocurrency. Cuban states that Trump is playing the cryptocard to win the next election.
Talking with Politico, Cuban says that Kamala Harris “will be far more open to business, [artificial intelligence], crypto and government as a service. Changing the policies changes the message and lets everyone know she is in charge and open, literally, for business.”
An alternative view however comes from David Bailey, CEO of the Bitcoin Conference, who tweeted, “I’m sorry, but [a] major democrat donor told me Kamala says privately ‘Bitcoin is money for criminals’”.
The thing that I didn’t know is that Kamala Harris has a deep background in the tech industry. Before becoming a senator in 2017, she was California’s Attorney General, where she focused on regulating the tech industry. During this time, she built strong connections in Silicon Valley, making friends with influential people like Laurene Powell Jobs and having family ties to Uber’s Chief Legal Officer, Tony West.
Former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg on Monday called her “the strongest candidate to lead our country forward”. Netflix executive chairman Reed Hastings in an X post congratulated Harris and said that “now it is time to win”.
In other words, we don’t know. Trump is openly promoting cryptocurrency as the future; Harris is sitting on the fence but, quietly, appears to be supporting tech innovation including cryptocurrency innovation.
Both sides therefore give an interesting insight into the future of crypto investments and regulations.
From the democrat perspective, it seems that tighter regulation is needed in this area, and they are not comfortable with digital assets of this form. This is why The Digital Chamber sent a letter to Kamala’s office stating:
“There is a public perception that the party holds a negative viewpoint of digital assets, largely due to the Biden/Harris Administration's notably cautious and at times hostile approach to these transformative technologies. Your … candidacy for President represents an opportunity to change that perception.”
I guess my conclusion sits with the view expressed by The Defiant which states:
Trump’s campaign is already accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for donations, gaining increasing support from industry leaders like Cathie Wood, and Elon Musk … Trump’s supportive public statements have set a high bar on what the crypto industry can now expect from a presidential candidate. All eyes are on Harris now to see if she can meet those expectations.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
