U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris “understands” crypto and may embrace it as an issue in her nascent campaign for the White House, Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) said at the Bitcoin Nashville conference on Saturday.
Twenty-eight officials, including a dozen or so members of the House, wrote a letter to the Democratic National Committee asking for a “reset” on crypto policy to complement the recent shakeup on the election ticket, Nickel said.
Among their asks are a pro-innovation Securities and Exchange Commission chair, a vice presidential pick that is “sophisticated” on digital asset policy, inclusion of pro-crypto language on the party platform and a more innovation-forward approach, he said.
The comments offer the latest evidence of bipartisan advocacy for crypto as a campaign issue in the 2024 election, which has already been flooded by tens of millions of fundraising dollars from industry political action committees. Democrats have fallen well behind former President Donald Trump’s promise to be friendly to Bitcoin and crypto proponents that bristled at President Joe Biden’s administration and heavy-handed financial regulators.
The thinking, among Bitcoin and crypto advocates on the left, is that Biden’s exit from the race may create an opening for Democrats up and down the ticket to rethink their position on crypto, not least Harris. Some factions of the party are pressing her campaign to come out in favor, Nickel said.
Trump is scheduled to speak later in the day at the conference in Nashville.
This is a developing story.