Kamala Harris Not Liked By Crypto Crowd; Trump May Be Preferred As Bitcoin Awaits $100K

Kamala Harris is not known to be a crypto enthusiast. You’ll be hard pressed to find any comments by her about Bitcoin BTC/USD. But the crypto community doesn’t seem to be a fan. She turned to an invite to The Bitcoin Conference, hosted by Bitcoin magazine in Nashville.

“Would be very savvy of her to reset the democrat positioning on the fastest growing voter block in the country. They’re making up their minds today,” David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine posted on X.

Who knows why she rejected it. It could be because of the schedule changes regarding President Biden recusing himself from the campaign and Harris thrusted into campaign mode. It could be because Benjamin Netanyahu was in town, though that still would have given her time to go to Nashville.

“She can’t even take the first step and show up to start mending fences. Our industry won't forget this. We will show no mercy in November,” Tyler Winkelvoss of Gemini crypto exchange fame posted on July 24.

“A vote for Kamala Harris is a vote to kill crypto in America,” said Marshall Hayner, CEO of the blockchain banking network called Metallicus based in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump attended, fresh off an assassination attempt. He gave an address to the Bitcoin Conference late-afternoon on Saturday.

"Bitcoin and crypto will skyrocket like never before, even beyond your expectations and you are the people who are doing it," Trump said. Even better than his bullish Bitcoin comment was when he said he would sack Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The crowd cheered. "I didn't know he was that unpopular," Trump said.

While Harris never really had much to say about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investing, Trump is now seen as the crypto-friendly presidential candidate, alongside RFK Jr, who also attended.

“I think Trump has been pro crypto for some time especially after he left the office. One thing is for sure, he knows that big money is behind crypto now and being a businessman he knows how to play the cards right,” said Naeem Aslam, an investment consultant for AvaTrade in London. “A large number of crypto companies have paid significant sums to his campaign now and during this time, he has witnessed the power of crypto and what it can do.”

Trump has said that he wants the U.S. to take the lead in digital asset markets, a market where the U.S. still struggles due to regulatory ambiguity surrounding what is a security and what is not a security. “I think under a Trump presidency, the US would be back in the game,” Aslam said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has softened its views towards crypto after losing a number of cases in court. Plus, the SEC knows big investment firms like BlackRock are invested, and new products are being created like the new Ethereum ETFs that went live on Friday. Traders are anticipating a more positive vibe from the SEC.

Should Harris become president, she is likely to continue with the cautious approach on crypto. (See the White House brief on crypto here.) Gensler may even remain as head of the SEC.

The  hallmark of the Biden/Harris administration has been to build safeguards and to slow walk the merger of digital asset investments with traditional investments. Despite the Democrats propensity to want to protect investors, the SEC has failed to create rules that would protect retail investors from theft, allowing them to sue exchanges that lost their holdings to hackers or other fraudulent activities. 

Investors in the famous FTX blowup have not been made whole yet. Recent reports this spring suggest they will be paid back plus interest, based on the price of those assets at the time the accounts were locked.

The crypto elite may not be happy with Harris now, but that can change. Allegiances are often fickle in politics and despite Biden not being a Bitcoin president by any means, Bitcoin holders watched their prized possession hit all-time highs this year.  Plus new spot-Bitcoin ETFs and now new Ethereum ETFs. If Biden and Harris are anti-crypto, the market has moved forward regardless.

“I think it is pretty a given that there is a strong support for Bitcoin at around $60,000,” said Aslam. “The fear and greed index very much confirmed that many traders were selling while whales were buying. Bitcoin is trading above the 200-day moving average and the 100 day, which tells me that investors are bullish. If you see resistance levels of around $71,000 break, that would really increase the interest for digital assets overall and we may be on our way towards the ultimate Bitcoin price target, which is at $100,000.”

This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.