Kamala Harris Can’t Afford To Cede Crypto To Donald Trump, Think Tank Says

Leading Democratic candidate Kamala Harris can’t afford to cede crypto to Republican nominee Donald Trump in key battleground states ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) claims in a new report released Thursday.

Crypto Key For Kamala Harris Ahead Of U.S. Presidential Election, OMFIF Says

According to the independent think tank, Harris “must lay out her own agenda for cryptoassets or she risks ceding the ground entirely to the Republicans” given her failure to embrace the blockchain sector.

While reports reveal the current U.S. vice president may be “more open” to crypto than her purported predecessor Joe Biden, she has stayed relatively mum on her stance toward digital assets.

This will be the first #US electoral cycle in which #crypto policy is going to play a major role. Kamala Harris must lay out her own agenda for cryptoassets or she risks ceding the ground entirely to the #Republicans, writes @OMFIFDMI's Lewis McLellan: https://t.co/WXX7I04YCI

— OMFIF (@OMFIF) August 2, 2024

Meanwhile, Trump has largely embraced cryptocurrencies, delivering a speech proclaiming he would make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet” last week at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville. Harris reportedly declined to attend the premiere digital asset conference.

“It should be no surprise that the crypto community and the Republican party found they had something in common,” OMFIF author Lewis McLellan writes. “Crypto has always flaunted its anti-establishment flavor, so the party of small government, particularly the version crafted in the image of former president Donald Trump, is perhaps its more natural political home.”

Donald Trump Continues Crypto-Friendly Campaign

OMFIF’s commentary comes at an inflection point in this year’s election cycle, with recent data showing that crypto is a key issue for 20% of all voters in this year’s swing states.

“Crypto is at the top of voters minds in swing states” according to an urgent letter to the Democratic Party, written by tech billionaires and signed by the New York Congress members they bought and paid for: @RitchieTorres and @danielsgoldman. pic.twitter.com/tdjBAQx8ZH

— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) July 27, 2024

Potentially hurting Harris’ chances of winning over the crypto community at large is the Biden administration’s stringent approach to digital asset regulation.

OMFIF cites Democratic pushback on the Financial Innovation and Technology Act for the 21st Century (FIT21) bill, and Biden’s decision to veto the congressional overturn of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) controversial accounting bulletin SAB121.

Trump, on the other hand, has promised to provide a crypto-friendly regulatory framework if elected.

“While a great many of the criminals and scam artists have been shaken out over the past few years (thanks, in part, to the SEC’s energetic pursuit), it remains a potential vector for criminal activity and a source of new risks to investors,” OMFIF states. “Properly regulated, it can provide economic growth and opportunity. Making it a partisan football would do not just the crypto industry, but the country, a disservice.”

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