Advisers to Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign have been contacting key players in the crypto industry to develop relationships that could eventually inform a regulatory framework, sources told the Financial Times.
In recent days, that outreach effort has included crypto exchange Coinbase, stablecoin company Circle, and blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs, according to the report.
One source told the FT that the message Harris wants to send is that Democrats are “pro-business, responsible business.”
Her elevation to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket is also seen as a chance to reset relations with the tech sector after the Biden administration’s regulatory stance created a backlash in what has traditionally been a more liberal-leaning industry.
The Harris campaign, Coinbase, and Circle didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Ripple pointed to recent remarks that CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted to social media platform X.
On Friday, he urged Harris to distance herself from “folks like this who spout utter nonsense,” referring to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) who has been a harsh crypto critic.
“The Dems aren’t winning any votes for being anti-crypto (and thus anti-innovation), while the Republicans are gaining votes for embracing and encouraging innovation here in the US,” Garlinghouse said. “It’s time to catch up with so many other leading economies and governments with clear rules of the road.”
And in a post on Wednesday, he cautioned against jumping to conclusions about candidates based only on their party, adding that Harris is familiar with Silicon Valley and has an opportunity to provide a reset on issues like crypto regulation.
“I’ll keep an open mind for now—but also agree that if she uses the same Elizabeth Warren-like rhetoric, then she has miscalculated the political liability that is Gary Gensler,” he wrote.
Indeed, SEC Chairman Gensler has drawn particular ire, even from Democratic allies like billionaire Mark Cuban, who recently called on Biden to fire him.
But Cuban, a noted crypto enthusiast, told Decrypt that Harris campaign advisers have reached out to him recently as well.
“I’m getting multiple questions from her camp about crypto,” he said Tuesday. “So I take that as a good sign.”
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has been making overtures to the crypto sector after reversing his earlier skeptical stance and his speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference on Saturday.
That’s as the presidential election has emerged a major fault line dividing Silicon Valley, with venture capital partners Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowtiz as well as the Winklevoss backing Trump. On the other side, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, and SV Angel’s Ron Conway are among the other big-name techies that have publicly endorsed Harris.