A version of this story appeared in our The Guidance newsletter on August 12. Sign up here.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban. Hedge fund veteran Anthony Scaramucci. Congressman Wiley Nickel.
Those are some of the heavyweights who will speak at a digital town hall this week organised by the Crypto4Harris campaign.
The campaign launched to rally crypto community support for Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, as the industry has poured $183 million into political action committees to back crypto-friendly candidates.
‘Starting small’
Campaign organiser Will Schweitzer told DL News Crypto4Harris is “starting small.”
“There’s no PAC, no organisation, just some volunteers. We happen to know enough people that we’re able to get a list of names on board to join us” for the town hall, he said.
Crypto4Harris believes that crypto is “a broad church,” Schweitzer said.
While the campaign is Democrat-led, it welcomes anyone who wants to learn about how crypto can help American innovation, he said.
“We see a Harris administration as an opportunity for those of us in the industry who are very concerned about the real problems — the regulatory issues — the concerns of founders and builders, entrepreneurs, investors, consumers,” he said.
Donald Trump
Democratic-aligned crypto industry participants hope that Harris can reset relations between the party and the crypto industry, strained after years of regulatory crackdowns under President Joe Biden.
While Donald Trump has embraced crypto on the campaign trail, Vice President Harris has been silent.
Her campaign shows signs of inching closer to the industry.
For instance, it hired David Plouffe, a former Obama adviser with crypto ties.
Republican industry representatives, however, say they don’t trust that the Harris reset is real.
That scepticism redoubled last week, when regulators told Customers Bank to strengthen its compliance measures.
The crypto-friendly bank’s scolding revived claims there’s a coordinated effort from the administration to block crypto businesses from accessing banking services.
‘Legacy issues’
Schweitzer said Crypto4Harris aims to move beyond “legacy issues” from the Biden administration, such as ongoing litigation against crypto businesses.
“We’re trying to reach out to the Harris team in the campaign days and say, ‘You don’t have to write off crypto, we’re here for you,’” he said.
“That’s a showing of good faith on the industry’s part.”
The event is scheduled for Wednesday, 8pm Eastern Time.
Some of the other speakers confirmed for the event include Congresspeople Adam Schiff and Ritchie Torres, and Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Sheila Warren.
Reach out to me at joanna@dlnews.com.