Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Shouldn’t Pander to Crypto People

The good news is that business interests are getting support during an election year. The bad news is that the business is crypto.

Less than two years after the industry’s highest-profile political donor was exposed as a criminal, the lure of campaign donations from the digital-money crowd is once again proving irresistible. Last time, Sam Bankman-Fried lavished cash on candidates in hopes of laxer regulations (before he ended up in federal prison on fraud charges). This time, crypto advocates are raising some millions to oppose unfriendly politicians. That’s led some candidates to abandon common sense in pursuit of cash.

Although the industry is good at grabbing headlines, the stakes aren’t especially high. Not even the most skeptical US politicians are proposing to ban Bitcoin and other such currencies, as China and about 20 other countries have done. Instead, the debate has mostly focused on whether digital tokens should be regulated like other types of investment products. (They should be.)