Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader of the United States Senate, says he’s making it his goal to pass bipartisan pro-crypto legislation by the end of the year if Kamala Harris is elected President.
Speaking at the Crypto4Harris Town Hall meeting — a grassroots crypto advocacy group pushing for a crypto policy "reset" in the Harris campaign — Schumer said lawmakers could no longer “stick their heads in the sand” when it comes to fostering crypto innovation in the US, saying:
“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 said a Harris administration would not necessarily be opposed to 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, noting that lawmakers need to provide guardrails to protect users of the technology, preserve national security and ensure crypto could not be abused by nefarious actors.
The Crypto4Harris event is among a few grassroots efforts looking to prompt a pro-crypto "reset" in the Harris campaign. Since Vice President Harris has yet to make her position on crypto policy clear in her presidential campaign, most pundits assume that she will inherit the Biden administration's approach to digital assets — one that has been distinctly hostile to US crypto firms.
The Crypto4Harris meeting comes as Republican candidate Donald Trump has continued to try to appeal to crypto pundits, with the former President making the promise of ending "Joe Biden’s war on crypto” a cornerstone of his election campaign.
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July, Trump said he would make the US the "crypto capital of the planet", by firing SEC Chair Gary Gensler and creating a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile if elected President.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban called out Trump and the Republican party at the Crypto4Harris event, saying they're only truly 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 [maximalists] get richer."
Democrat Congressman Wiley Nickel briefly noted 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, adding that Trump had been openly hostile towards crypto until quite recently.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.