Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of investment firm SkyBridge Capital, has repeatedly said he thinks former president Donald Trump is bad for crypto.
And on Thursday, at a marquee panel at Token2049, one of crypto’s largest conferences, he repeated his warning that a potential Trump election win may harm the industry.
“Trump is a polarising person. He’s for it,” Scaramucci said, in reference to the former president’s embrace of crypto. “It could touch off an avalanche of people that are against it.”
While Scaramucci has instead thrown his support behind Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, he isn’t representative of the crypto industry’s political tilt.
‘Crypto is purple’
Mike Belshe, CEO of crypto custodian Bitgo, expressed support for the former president on stage. And Jeremy Allaire, CEO of stablecoin titan Circle, refused to take sides.
“Crypto is purple,” said Allaire, which prompted a spattering of applause from the audience.
The panel in Singapore comes as crypto has turned into a political talking point in the upcoming US presidential election.
Trump, especially, has embraced the industry. He’s spoken at Bitcoin 2024, launched his own DeFi project, and most recently bought burgers with Bitcoin in NYC.
Harris hasn’t taken a public stance on the sectory. Still, her team has reportedly engaged on crypto regulation with Scaramucci, billionaire Mark Cuban, and Mike Novogratz, the CEO of crypto firm Galaxy Digital.
Regulation by enforcement
Scaramucci, who was briefly the White House communications director under Trump, did say the real estate magnate should be credited for “understanding how important this industry is for the United States.”
He added: “Ironically, he’s pulling the Democrats along into a centrist position on regulation.”
Belshe, who recently hosted a fundraiser for the former president, was more glowing in his appraisal of Trump’s potential impact on crypto.
“We do have clarity from the Trump proposals. They want to make sure we put in pro-crypto folks there.” he said, in reference to regulatory agencies like the US Securities and Exchange Commission. “We have not heard the same from Harris.”
But, division wasn’t the only theme of the panel, which also included Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance.
Unsurprisingly, the three American executives had one common enemy: Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC.
“Regulation by enforcement has not been an effective strategy,” said Allaire. “It’s been a very, very destructive strategy.”
Ben Weiss is a Dubai Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at bweiss@dlnews.com.