The cryptocurrency industry is making a concerted push to win over the Democratic Party ahead of the 2024 presidential election, with a new organization hoping to counter former President Donald Trump’s growing influence among crypto supporters.
Political Crypto Battle
According to a Fortune report, a new grassroots organization called ‘Crypto for Harris’ is leading the charge, hosting a virtual town hall on Wednesday that will feature high-profile Democratic politicians and industry leaders. The goal, according to organizer G. Clay Miller, is to “reset the narrative” around cryptocurrency and the Democratic party.
“There was a lot of pent-up energy from Democratic crypto operatives, who viewed this opportunity as a chance to reset the narrative for Democrats around crypto,” Miller, a former Senate assistant and organizer for Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, told Fortune.
The last election cycle saw a wave of campaign funding from the digital asset sector, primarily from Sam Bankman-Fried and his now-bankrupt firm FTX, which spent upwards of $93 million on donations to candidates from both parties.
However, after Bankman-Fried’s descent into infamy, Democrats quickly distanced themselves from the disgraced founder, and the party took a more skeptical stance towards the industry.
Meanwhile, Republicans have positioned themselves as the champions of the digital asset sector, advancing two bills out of the House Financial Services Committee.
Many in the industry have also blamed Biden administration officials and political appointees for the continuous crackdown on the sector by regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This shift has led the industry to rush to fill the Bankman-Fried-sized hole in their political donations, with companies like Coinbase and a16z crypto spearheading lobbying and funding efforts through organizations such as ‘Stand with Crypto’ and Fairshake, a digital asset focused super Political Action Committee (PAC) with a war chest topping $200 million.
Countering Former President Donald Trump
The former president’s newfound embrace of Bitcoin and digital assets has also complicated the Democrats’ efforts to win over the industry. Trump, who once denounced Bitcoin as a “scam,” has since become a full-throated booster of the industry, delivering a stump speech at the annual 2024 Bitcoin conference in July.
“If you actually look at the actions of the Trump administration while he was in office, they were not particularly pro-crypto,” Miller said. “There’s a misunderstanding of a lot of pro-crypto Republican supporters on just how supportive Trump is.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has remained a blank slate on digital assets, though her team has made some advances toward the blockchain industry, including setting up private meetings with industry leaders.
However, some have voiced skepticism about any potential reset from the Biden administration, pointing to top advisers in her campaign who previously carved out anti-blockchain positions.
Per the report, the Crypto for Harris event on Wednesday will feature an array of pro-digital asset Democrats, including Representatives Ritchie Torres and Wiley Nickel, as well as a prepared video from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. But despite the group’s outreach, nobody from the Harris campaign is set to make an appearance.
Miller and his co-organizers, Democratic strategist Will Schweitzer and former Justice Department attorney Amanda Wick, are still mapping out the group’s goals after the town hall, including a national road show that will likely include fundraising efforts.
While Crypto for Harris may not be able to change the course of the campaign or win over the industry, Miller said the goal is to start the conversation and tamp down the enthusiasm around Trump’s embrace of digital assets.
“The idea came after watching Trump cultivate overwhelming support in the crypto industry,” Miller said. “We wanted to create a counternarrative and make the case for why Democrats should be the party of crypto.”
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com