Author: Hannah Lang, Reuters; Translated by: Wuzhu, Golden Finance
Cryptocurrency investors and industry executives are calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to take a softer regulatory stance on the industry as they plan to raise at least $100,000 for Democratic candidates at a Sept. 13 fundraiser in Washington.
Organizers told Reuters that the grassroots event, planned between meetings of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, was intended to bring together a diverse group of donors. Tickets for the fundraiser will range from $500 to $5,000, said Cleve Mesidor, executive director of the Blockchain Foundation and one of the organizers.
The event’s fundraising goal is a drop in the bucket compared with the hundreds of millions of dollars Harris has raised since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee in July, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. But it’s the latest sign that at least some in the industry are backing her over Republican nominee Donald Trump, who is courting big cryptocurrency donors with friendly policy promises.
Organizers, including Tiffany Smith, co-chair of the blockchain and cryptocurrency working group at law firm WilmerHale, and cryptocurrency founder Rahilla Zafar, who also works in artificial intelligence, hope that if elected, Harris will ease regulations on cryptocurrencies after the SEC under Biden cracked down on the industry.
The agency said cryptocurrency companies are flouting securities laws, although the industry has questioned whether those laws apply to them.
“Why not take advantage of this first fundraiser — there will be many others — to really show what cryptocurrency means to Democrats as a potential new administration considers how they view this issue?” said Macidore.
She said she hopes the event will spur conversation about how a Harris administration can encourage cryptocurrency innovation and provide access to capital for more people of color.
“We want to make sure that as the Democratic presidential candidate changes, we can support her and work together to help her understand the importance of this industry,” said WilmerHale’s Smith.
A separate group called Crypto4Harris also emerged this month and planned to hold a fundraiser for Harris. The group held a town hall meeting where billionaire Mark Cuban and Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci spoke in support of Harris.
Although Harris has not publicly expressed her views on cryptocurrencies, her campaign has met with well-known cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase and Ripple, Reuters previously reported.
Campaign finance records show that these and other large cryptocurrency companies are donating to pro-crypto candidates in congressional races on both sides of the aisle through super PACs, rather than aligning themselves with either presidential candidate.
Brian Nelson, a senior adviser to Harris' campaign, said at an event at the Democratic National Convention this month that Harris would support the development of emerging technologies, which many in the cryptocurrency industry saw as a positive sign.
“[Harris] has this golden opportunity to really develop a plan to influence a large number of voters in the cryptocurrency industry,” Zafar said.