A virtual meeting aimed at easing tensions between the cryptocurrency industry and the Democratic Party took a sharp turn on Thursday, highlighting the challenges faced by progressive crypto advocates in rallying industry support for Kamala Harris‘s presidential campaign.
What Happened: The Zoom call was hosted by California Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) and intended to mend fences in a highly charged election year.
The cryptocurrency sector has been under intense scrutiny due to a regulatory crackdown led by financial regulators under the Biden Administration.
With Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race, the party is working to win back crypto voters who have increasingly leaned toward GOP candidate Donald Trump, who has publicly embraced the industry and pledged to make the U.S. a global leader in cryptocurrency.
The call included about twenty participants, featuring high-level Biden administration officials such as Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, according to Fox Business.
Kristine Lucius, a senior adviser to Harris, was also present but remained silent, according to sources on the call.
On the crypto side, participants included notable figures such as billionaire entrepreneur and crypto investor Mark Cuban, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, venture capitalist and Democratic donor Ron Conway, as well as executives from major crypto firms like Ripple XRP/USD, Coinbase COIN, Kraken and Uniswap UNI/USD.
Why It Matters: However, instead of fostering collaboration, the meeting quickly became confrontational. Crypto industry executives voiced their anger over the regulatory actions taken by agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve.
Participants likened the meeting to a similar roundtable Khanna hosted in Washington D.C. last month, where industry leaders aired their grievances about the Biden administration's treatment of digital assets.
“Executives didn’t hold back on telling the administration reps how much damage they’ve done to the crypto industry and to the Democrat Party with their actions against digital assets,” an anonymous attendee said. “They basically just got yelled at.”
Ron Conway, a prominent early investor in Coinbase, “aggressively” criticized the administration for what he described as unfulfilled promises to the industry.
Tensions escalated further when Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo asserted that banks and regulators were not intentionally cutting off the crypto industry from the broader financial system.
This prompted a crypto executive to ask for a show of hands from those whose firms had been denied banking services due to White House policies—nearly all industry representatives raised their hands, according to two attendees.
Despite the heated exchanges, Anthony Scaramucci expressed optimism about Harris’s potential to gain support within the crypto community.
“It's encouraging that these high-level officials took the time to show up and listen to our industry,” Scaramucci told Fox Business. “My colleagues in the crypto space understandably want action now, but that's not how things work in Washington. I think we're making steady progress.”
Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase said this was a Biden administration meeting, but the focus now has to be on the Harris campaign and what they’re willing to do. “She’s the perfect candidate to be a strong new face for crypto and make a break with the past.”
What’s Next: As the cryptocurrency industry continues to navigate its complex relationship with Washington, these discussions and the outcomes will likely be a key topic at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19, where industry leaders and policymakers are expected to explore the evolving landscape of digital assets and regulation.
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