Harris scrambles Trump’s crypto play

Former President Donald Trump’s effort to cement his candidacy with the cryptocurrency industry – and shake it for campaign cash — is starting to be complicated by a new X factor: the ascension of Kamala Harris.

Trump’s Saturday appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville is the latest sign that a second Trump term would likely usher in policies friendly to digital asset firms . It comes as major crypto companies and their investors are poised to spend tens of millions of dollars to influence this year’s elections.

Industry players expect Trump’s speech this weekend to focus on boosting bitcoin mining in the U.S. and preventing the Federal Reserve from creating its own digital currency — both in line with the GOP platform released earlier this month. Some crypto enthusiasts are hoping Trump will go even further by endorsing a plan for the government to establish a strategic reserve of bitcoin.

“It gives the Trump embrace of crypto increasing bona fides,” said J. Christopher Giancarlo, who earned the name “CryptoDad” when he served as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Trump.

But a potential new challenge looms from the rise of Harris. Trump has framed his crypto pitch as an attack on President Joe Biden, whose regulators have cracked down on the industry. Now with the campaign undergoing a big reset, crypto-friendly Democrats are hopeful that Harris will usher in a softer approach. Though she hasn’t taken a position on digital asset regulation as VP, crypto advocates point to her age and roots in tech-friendly California as reasons to be optimistic.

“I'm hopeful,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a pro-crypto New Jersey Democrat, said. “I think she understands the space, being from California.”

Ron Conway, a venture capitalist and top Democratic donor whose firm has invested in crypto companies, posted on X this week that he has “known Kamala for decades, and she’s been a fighter, a leader, and an advocate for the tech ecosystem since the day we met.”

Harris is broadly expected to run on the Biden administration’s record, and speculation about her position on crypto could be a projection. But before Biden dropped out of the race, his camp appeared to be taking a more open-minded approach to crypto concerns, with senior adviser Anita Dunn meeting with industry leaders in Washington .

On Capitol Hill, Democrats remain divided over the issue. This week, the party’s top crypto skeptic, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), criticized a bill that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer signaled he wants to advance .

In anticipation of a possible shift, crypto critics are already pushing Harris to hold the line on the issue.

Rep. Brad Sherman, a fellow California Democrat and leading crypto basher on the House Financial Services Committee, said he has “already urged Kamala to stick with the positions of the Biden-Harris administration on crypto.”

He said Harris should use the issue to attack Trump, a former crypto skeptic who once called bitcoin a “scam.”

“I don’t think the people of the country want a slot machine president — you put in the money, you pull the handle, you get what you want,” Sherman said, referring to the crypto industry’s campaign spending. “And that’s clearly what Trump is.”

Trump’s crypto embrace didn’t come out of nowhere. Pro-crypto policies have become a big push for the GOP since he left office in 2021. But he has cashed in extensively on his newfound support for digital assets. Crypto billionaires who have backed Trump — including the Winklevoss twins and the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz — have cited the issue in explaining their support for him. And his campaign has collected millions of dollars in crypto donations since it began accepting digital assets in May.

Before his speech in Nashville on Saturday, Trump will host a fundraiser where the asking price is $844,600 to attend a VIP reception, a roundtable and get a photo with the former president, according to an online invitation . (A lower-tier ticket that goes for $60,000 per person or $100,000 per couple allows attendees to just attend the reception and get a photo with Trump.)

When Trump takes the stage afterward, he is expected to try to turn crypto into a weapon against his new opponent.

“Crypto innovators and others in the technology sector are under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats,” Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement. “While the Biden-Harris Administration stifles innovation with more regulation and higher taxes, President Trump is ready to encourage American leadership in this and other emerging technologies.”

Eleanor Mueller contributed reporting.