Where Harris and other potential Democratic presidential candidates stand on crypto

Source: unchainedcrypto; Compilation: 0xjs@黄金财经

On July 21, US President Joseph Biden unexpectedly announced his resignation as the Democratic presidential candidate and supported Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate.

This has forced the cryptocurrency industry to now consider the impact she and other potential Democratic presidential candidates may have on the industry.

Although Harris is now the absolute favorite to win the nomination, her position on the candidate list has not yet been determined, especially as some Democrats are concerned about the possibility of Harris defeating Republican candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election.  

The Democratic presidential nominee will be decided at the party convention, which will be held in Chicago from August 19 to 22.

Here are the views of the most likely Democratic presidential candidates on cryptocurrencies:

Vice President Harris

Harris has never voted in Congress on any significant matters regarding cryptocurrency policy, and as vice president, she has remained largely silent on the technology.

Given her time as a senator and state attorney general in California, some believe she is a friend of Silicon Valley and could be beneficial to the cryptocurrency industry.

However, if she is elected president and decides to follow through on the Biden administration's wariness of cryptocurrencies and the SEC's hostile stance toward the industry, things may not change much.

California Governor Gavin Newsom

Newsom has been the top surrogate for the Biden campaign, but many believe he has been running a shadow campaign for the president for some time. With regard to cryptocurrencies, Newsom has taken some specific actions that have affected cryptocurrency regulation in California. In May 2022, Newsom signed an executive order to establish a licensing framework for cryptocurrency companies in California. While he initially vetoed a bill in September 2022 that would have established such a framework, he did sign the Digital Financial Assets Act in October 2023, which some believe enables California to compete with New York on the BitLicense regulatory regime.  

Among the potential candidates, Newsom may have the deepest understanding of the cryptocurrency industry, meaning he may be able to make the smartest policy decisions and at least be willing to work with the cryptocurrency industry on state policy and education. However, several other governors are seen as more likely to gain support from Democratic donors and ultimately defeat Trump.  

Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Governor

Whitmer is seen as a potential candidate because she would help win a key battleground state. Whitmer has not discussed any of her cryptocurrency positions, nor has she promoted cryptocurrency policy in Michigan in any significant way. This suggests that she might be more responsive to policy issues around crypto if she becomes president, or that she’s simply not interested in crypto from a policy perspective. While other states, such as California, have implemented regulatory frameworks for the industry, there’s no indication Whitmer would do much on crypto.  

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker 

Pritzker is reportedly worth $3.5 billion, so he’s a candidate who could fund his own campaign. If one of the potential candidates could be described as “bullish on crypto,” it’d likely be Pritzker — at least until the FTX collapse in 2022, his office was silent on crypto. But in a 2021 Facebook post, Pritzker welcomed crypto ATM company CoinFlip to expand its roots and personnel in Chicago, writing that “the future of crypto is in Illinois.”  

In addition, Illinois under Pritzker was an early adopter of cryptocurrency. Additionally, it’s not unusual for his office to stop promoting the industry after the FTX scandal broke, as many legislative bodies, including Congress, quickly gave up on advancing cryptocurrency policy until more people understood what happened at FTX. However, if the crypto industry wants to see one person become the Democratic presidential candidate, or vice presidential candidate under Harris, Pritzker may be the best choice.  

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro

Like Whitmer, Shapiro has been considered a possible presidential candidate because he is the governor of a key battleground state. During his tenure, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities decided to include “cryptocurrency” in the definition of “currency” in the state’s money transmission law, a departure from Shapiro’s 2019 policy before he became Pennsylvania governor. While Shapiro hasn’t done anything major with regard to cryptocurrencies, he hasn’t said anything negative about the industry either, even after crypto mining companies took advantage of state tax breaks designed to help build data centers. As such, he may be willing to look into establishing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies at the state level.  

Potential U.S. Senators or Cabinet Officials 

While the governor is unlikely to win the presidential nomination, two U.S. senators and one cabinet official have stances on crypto that are worth a brief review.  

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Booker is a co-sponsor of the Digital Commodity Consumer Protection Act of 2022, which would authorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate digital assets as commodities. Additionally, he voted in favor of a resolution to overturn SEC SAB 121, which currently requires cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians to record customers’ crypto assets as liabilities on their balance sheets, a measure that the crypto industry strongly opposed. Ultimately, President Biden vetoed the resolution. According to Open Secrets, Booker received $17,500 in contributions from the crypto industry in 2024.   

Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)

Along with Booker, Kelly was one of twelve Democratic senators who voted to overturn SAB 121.  In the same Open Secrets poll, Kelly revealed that he has received $3,323 in campaign contributions from the crypto industry so far in 2024.  

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

So far, Buttigieg has not weighed in on the issue of cryptocurrency and has not made any comments or positions to indicate his stance on cryptocurrencies as Secretary of Transportation.