According to a report by Galaxy Research on October 14th, U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris is said to have a more favorable attitude towards cryptocurrency compared to President Joe Biden, but still not as much as rival Donald Trump.
Ms. Harris has committed to significantly improving the legal environment for cryptocurrency companies in the U.S. However, Ms. Harris has shown an unfavorable stance on several other key issues, such as taxes, Bitcoin mining, and the right to self-custody assets, according to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy.
'Although Mr. Trump clearly supports cryptocurrency more, we remain optimistic that Harris may be more supportive than Mr. Biden.'
Comparing cryptocurrency policies between Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris
The upcoming U.S. presidential election will take place between Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has expressed ambitions to turn the U.S. into the 'cryptocurrency capital of the world,' and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who has remained quieter in this area.
Under President Biden, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented a strict regulatory policy towards the cryptocurrency industry, with over 100 regulatory actions taken. In contrast, last July, Mr. Trump publicly stated he would 'fire' Gary Gensler, who currently leads the SEC.
Since September, Ms. Harris has shown more interest in the cryptocurrency sector, listing blockchain technology as one of the areas she wants the U.S. to maintain a leading position in. This could suggest a somewhat lighter regulatory stance on cryptocurrency.
Galaxy notes that 'backchannel discussions suggest that Ms. Harris is leaning towards a more constructive approach than Biden.'
The resignation of Gurbir Grewal, the head of the SEC's enforcement division, on October 2nd may also be a sign of change from within the current administration.
However, Galaxy also points out that Ms. Harris still maintains an 'extremely strict' view on taxes. Her plan includes 'eliminating tax cuts from the Trump era,' which could lead to increased capital gains tax for cryptocurrency investors.
In contrast, Mr. Trump has shown support for Bitcoin mining, viewing it as a form of production and wishing to promote Bitcoin mining in the U.S.
Mr. Trump has also committed to 'protecting the right to self-custody assets,' meaning allowing users to hold cryptocurrency in personal wallets rather than entrusting it to a third party. Meanwhile, Ms. Harris has not taken a clear stance supporting these issues.
Notably, both candidates have a tough stance on imposing financial sanctions on cryptocurrency transactions related to other countries.
This could limit their support for permissionless DeFi protocols, which risk violating customer identity verification (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
