(Kitco News) – The Democrat pivot on cryptocurrencies continues as Thursday saw U.S. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announce that if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president, he will make it his goal to pass bipartisan crypto legislation by the end of 2024.
Schumer made the comments while speaking at a Town Hall meeting run by Crypto4Harris, a grassroots crypto advocacy group pushing for a crypto policy “reset” in Harris’ presidential campaign.
“We all believe in the future of crypto,” Schumer said during the online event. “Congress has a responsibility to provide common sense and sound regulation on crypto, and we need your support to make sure that any proposal is bipartisan. Crypto is here to stay, no matter what, so Congress must get it right.”
Pushing back against the lack of knowledge that many of his fellow politicians have when it comes to digital assets and blockchain technology, Schumer said lawmakers could no longer “stick their heads in the sand” when it comes to fostering crypto innovation in the US.
“We cannot afford to continue to sit on the sidelines because then we risk crypto going overseas to lowest common denominator countries where there will be no regulation at all,” he said. “I want to bring members on both sides of the aisle here in the Senate together, create momentum so we can pass sensible legislation that helps the United States maintain its status as the most innovative country in the world.”
“Innovation is our North star when it comes to AI or crypto,” Schumer added, before noting that it was also incumbent on lawmakers to help protect the public by providing guardrails to safeguard crypto users, protect national security interests, and ensure crypto could not be abused by nefarious actors.
He also sought to dispel the rumors that Harris would continue the Biden administration’s oppositional stance to the crypto industry, suggesting a Harris administration would not necessarily be opposed to crypto outright.
Schumer then reiterated his vow that he would make it his goal to pass pro-crypto legislation in the United States by the end of the year if Harris were to be elected president.
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, backed Schumer’s plan, saying she was committed to “providing a structure that both protects consumers but also allows this innovation to really flourish.”
Stabenow said she has been working alongside the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) towards this goal and said that crypto assets should be regulated as commodities, not securities, alluding to the ongoing turf battle between the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over which regulator should oversee the digital asset industry.
Schumer and Stabenow were not the only members of their party to jump on the crypto bandwagon. Representative Wiley Nickel (D-NC) also proclaimed his support for the crypto industry and the importance of new legislation, and used his time speaking to highlight the “dubious” nature of Trump’s newfound love for crypto.
"Let me tell you, there's only one candidate running for president who's called crypto a scam, and that's Donald Trump," Nickel said. "He did absolutely nothing for four years as president and was openly hostile up until just recently."
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D), and representatives Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) also appeared at the event, delivering a mix of pre-recorded and live statements outlining a variety of proposals on how the Democratic party could improve policy for digital assets in the U.S.
And unlike the virtually non-existent support that Biden has gotten from those in the crypto industry, Harris has already garnered support from several notable names, including billionaire investor Mark Cuban, who called out Trump and the Republican party at the Crypto4Harris event.
Cuban said they are only really interested in lining their own pockets and those of the crypto industry’s “elites.”
“Republicans couldn’t care less,” he said. “They just want to see the Bitcoin maxis get richer.”
SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as communications director during Trump’s administration, said he wanted crypto to become “less tribal” and pushed for more bipartisan policy efforts.
According to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, representatives from the Harris campaign have been making concerted efforts to better understand crypto-related policies ahead of the presidential election in November.
Allaire made the comments during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, saying that based on the passage of digital asset-related legislation in the current session of Congress, crypto appeared to be a “purple” issue, meaning that it has support on both sides of the aisle.
He noted that he attended an Aug. 8 video call with White House officials, Harris campaign representatives, and US lawmakers, where industry leaders had the opportunity to ascertain positions on digital assets.
“There is a concerted effort both from the administration and the Harris campaign to really get to know the issues, the players, the industry, the policy issues,” Allaire said. “I think what the industry is looking for very, very clearly is clear statements. Clear statements potentially from the existing White House, and clear statements from Harris as part of her economic policy agenda.”
“If you’d looked two years ago, it would be very hard to believe that crypto was going to be a presidential political issue,” he added.
For now, industry watchers only have statements from ancillary figures to determine who would be better for crypto as Harris has yet to make her policy positions clear. Until that happens, she will likely be judged on the record of the Biden administration, which is one dominated by years of enforcement actions, legal battles, and an inability to get industry-specific regulations in place.
