Crypto executives are set to meet privately “next week” with White House aides and Democratic Party Representative Ro Khanna to discuss urgent issues and propose policy changes.
A Bloomberg report states that the roundtable will feature high-ranking officials from Vice President Kamala Harris’s election campaign and the White House, including outgoing senior White House adviser Anita Dunn, National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard, and Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed.
The roundtable indicates the administration’s willingness to engage with the cryptocurrency sector and address its concerns regarding policy and regulation, underscoring the growing prominence of the digital asset sector in U.S. politics.
This meeting follows a previous roundtable held in July, which also saw significant engagement between crypto executives and White House officials. That session included representatives from major cryptocurrency firms such as Ripple and Coinbase.
Approximately 50 million Americans have invested in digital assets, and U.S. presidential election candidates are vying for support and donations from crypto-focused voters.
Former President and Republican Party nominee Donald Trump has sought to court the crypto community, leveraging discontent among industry leaders with President Joe Biden’s administration’s strict regulatory approach to the sector.
In a July 27 speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump pledged to transform America into a global hub for cryptocurrency and promised to dismiss U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler if reelected.
Trump has reportedly amassed over $25 million from crypto supporters since his campaign started accepting donations in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in May.
In July, Harris’s advisers contacted leading crypto firms to mend the fractured relationship between the Democratic Party and the cryptocurrency sector.
Following a letter from Democratic Party U.S. House representatives, there is a growing push for the party to reevaluate its stance on the digital asset sector. The letter emphasizes the need to transition from a perceived adversarial approach to a more supportive one.
The Harris campaign has also appointed David Plouffe as a senior adviser. Plouffe, a veteran strategist, explored opportunities in the cryptocurrency sector after departing the White House in 2013 and joined Binance’s Global Advisory Board in 2022.
It’s unclear if Plouffe’s role will focus on offering advice on crypto and blockchain issues.
