Democratic Party Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader of the United States Senate, said he’s making it his goal to pass bipartisan pro-crypto legislation by the end of 2024 if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president.
Speaking at the Crypto4Harris Town Hall meeting — a grassroots crypto advocacy group pushing for a crypto policy “reset” in Harris’ presidential campaign — Schumer said lawmakers could no longer “stick their heads in the sand” when it comes to fostering crypto innovation in the US. He said:
“We cannot afford to continue to sit on the sidelines because then we risk crypto going overseas to lowest common denominator countries where there will be no regulation at all.”
Noting the growth and increasing influence of crypto over the last decade, Schumer suggested a Harris administration would not necessarily be opposed to crypto outright. He said that he would make it his goal to pass pro-crypto legislation in the United States by the end of the year if Harris were to be elected president.
“I want to bring members on both sides of the aisle here in the Senate together, create momentum so we can pass sensible legislation that helps the United States maintain its status as the most innovative country in the world.”
“Innovation is our North star when it comes to AI or crypto,” Schumer said, adding that lawmakers need to provide guardrails to safeguard crypto users, protect national security interests and ensure crypto could not be abused by nefarious actors.
The Crypto4Harris event is among a few grassroots efforts to prompt a pro-crypto “reset” in the Harris campaign. Since Harris has yet to clarify her position on crypto policy, most pundits assume that she will inherit President Joe Biden’s administration’s approach to digital assets — one that has been distinctly hostile to crypto firms and organizations operating on US soil.
The Crypto4Harris meeting comes as Republican Party candidate Donald Trump has continued to try to appeal to crypto pundits. The former president has made the promise to end “Joe Biden’s war on crypto” a cornerstone of his election campaign.
In a July speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Trump said he would make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” by firing US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and creating a strategic national Bitcoin (BTC) stockpile if elected president.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban called out Trump and the Republican party at the Crypto4Harris event. He said they are only really interested in lining their own pockets and those of the crypto industry’s “elites.”
“Republicans couldn’t care less. They just want to see the Bitcoin maxis get richer.”
Crypto4Harris: Democrats offer support for the US crypto industry
Democratic Representative Wiley Nickel briefly stated his support for the crypto industry and the importance of new legislation before also taking a quick shot at Trump.
“Let me tell you, there’s only one candidate running for president who’s called crypto a scam, and that’s Donald Trump,” said Nickel, stating that Trump had previously been hostile toward crypto until quite recently.
Notably, Senator Debbie Stabenow, the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said she was committed to “providing a structure that both protects consumers but also allows this innovation to really flourish.”
Stabenow added that she had been working alongside the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and reiterated that crypto assets should be regulated as commodities, not securities — something that would see digital assets fall under the purview of the CFTC.
Related: Harris campaign is making a ‘concerted effort’ on crypto — Circle CEO
The CFTC is widely viewed as the more crypto-friendly regulator compared to the Gensler-led SEC, which has been criticized for adopting a “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto firms operating in the US.
A swathe of other Democratic Party politicians also voiced statements of support for the crypto industry.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and representatives Elissa Slotkin and Adam Schiff delivered a mix of pre-recorded and live statements offering varied positions on how the Democratic party could improve policy for digital assets in the US.
SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci said he wanted crypto to become “less tribal” and pushed for more bipartisan policy efforts.
Crypto4Harris organizers said they would begin raising funds in September to aid further efforts in building support for crypto in the Harris campaign.
Magazine: Crypto exposes sudden rift among Democrats months ahead of election