Kamala Harris Releases Policy Positions, But Bitcoin and Crypto Are MIA

After more than a month of speculation, Kamala Harris has finally released a list of proposed policy positions for her would-be presidential administration—and surprise or not, those stances did not include any takes on Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

On her campaign website’s new Issues page, Harris does dedicate a section to supporting “American innovation and workers.” In it, the Democratic nominee pledges to support the growth of the AI sector, and also nods to the importance of fostering “other cutting-edge industries of the future.”  

Some crypto advocates might take that as a subtle nod towards the industry, but Harris has yet to publicly reference crypto, praisingly or not, during her upstart presidential campaign. In fact, she appears to have never once discussed crypto in her political career.

As such, it would almost be more surprising if Harris did list crypto among the handful of top priority issues highlighted on her website than if she didn’t. The Democratic Party’s platform, a far more detailed and lengthy document, made no mention of crypto when it was released last month. 

But for months, crypto industry leaders have been pushing (and spending) relentlessly to upend that narrative. Anchored by the financial support of major industry players including Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreesen Horowitz, pro-crypto super PACs have gathered hundreds of millions of dollars in donations to become the single biggest special interest group aiming to influence November’s elections. 

Fairshake, the largest of the pro-crypto PACs, has raised over $246 million this election cycle. For context, the next largest special interest super PAC active in 2024—the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC—has raised less than half that sum. 

That seismic level of political spending appears to have already made an impact on national politics. Fairshake successfully foiled the campaign of a U.S. Senate candidate in California in February, and recently announced plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on 18 House and three Senate races, which could tip control of Congress.

Even the Harris campaign itself appears to have shifted tune, at least from the positions of President Joe Biden’s crypto-skeptical administration. While the candidate remains mum on the issue, crypto advocate Mark Cuban previously told Decrypt that her staffers have reached out with “multiple questions” about the industry, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire commended her campaign for showing a “concerted effort” to understand digital assets.

Crypto’s influence campaign has perhaps proved most successful, though, within the campaign of former president Donald Trump. While Trump dismissed Bitcoin as “a scam” barely three years ago, he pivoted sharply this summer, pledging pro-crypto policies in live appearances at industry conferences, and even teasing his family’s own crypto project in recent weeks.

Edited by Andrew Hayward