Kamala Harris has taken a big hit in the eyes of the crypto community. The Stand With Crypto PAC, a major crypto advocate, dropped Harris’s rating to ‘NA’.
This is a serious downgrade from the ‘B’ rating she previously had.
The ‘B’ came from a speech where she vaguely said she would invest in America’s future, including tech like artificial intelligence and digital currencies.
That’s all she had to say. No detailed plan. No clear crypto policy.
Republicans are preferred
On the other hand, the Republican camp has a much stronger position, promising to end the Democrats’ “unlawful and unAmerican crypto crackdown,” and opposing the idea of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
They’ve also pledged to defend the right to mine Bitcoin and allow every American to self-custody their digital assets.
Executives from Ripple Labs and Coinbase are in regular discussions with the campaign.
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, believes that both Harris and Trump’s teams are getting a better understanding of crypto.
“We just want sensible rules, and we’ll follow them,” Grewal said.
CEO Jeremy Allaire of Circle later commented on CNBC that he hopes crypto remains a “purple” issue, meaning it shouldn’t be seen as partisan.
The election is only 41 days away, and it’s assumed that Harris was trying to rally the crypto voter base.
Matthew Sigel from VanEck pointed out that if Harris was really serious about supporting digital assets, she’d be doing more to change the leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ryan Selkis, who founded Messari, also questioned Stand With Crypto’s rating system. He said it might be driven more by politics than genuine concern for the crypto community.
Meanwhile, polling data has shown that Harris is closing the gap with Trump on economic issues.
A Financial Times-Michigan Ross poll shows Harris has a narrow two-point lead over Trump on the economy among registered voters.
His campaign has raised over $25 million from crypto supporters. He has promised to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” He said that at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville earlier this year.
