In a bid to project a friendlier attitude towards a growing demographic, President Joe Biden is reportedly looking to accept political donations in cryptocurrencies.
What Happened: Ahead of the all-important presidential election, President Biden’s campaign is considering accepting cryptocurrency donations using the services of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, The Block reported Wednesday.
Coinbase Commerce, a service enabling merchants to accept various cryptocurrencies, already facilitates crypto donations for presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump. His campaign started accepting digital currency contributions last month.
The Biden campaign's talks are part of efforts to engage crypto-focused voters ahead of an election that experts believe will be closely contested.
Pro-cryptocurrency donors have been mobilizing, with crypto-backed super PACs raising a $100 million war chest, according to Public Citizen.
Why It Matters: The potential acceptance of cryptocurrency donations by Biden’s campaign comes at a critical time. Last week, Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill aimed at overturning the SEC’s crypto custody rules. This decision was met with criticism from the crypto community, which saw it as a hindrance to the industry’s growth in the U.S.
Billionaire Mark Cuban recently suggested that cryptocurrency could play a pivotal role in the 2024 election, potentially tipping the scales in favor of Trump. Over the last month, Trump’s campaign has taken a drastic pro-cryptocurrency pivot, a departure from his earlier positions.
According to decentralized prediction platform PolyMarket, Trump has a 56% chance of winning the elections against Biden’s 35%.
Price Action: At the time of writing, the memecoin themed around Biden, Jeo Boden BODEN/USD, was trading at $0.1762, up 2.2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Image via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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