- Kamala Harris may become the next US president.
- She has not made any public comments on crypto.
- However, she has strong ties to the tech industry.
Where does Kamala Harris stand on crypto?
That question has become more pressing after the US vice-president emerged as a top alternative for the Democratic nomination following president Joe Biden’s abysmal debate performance against Donald Trump last week.
While Biden vowed to stay in the race and Harris has made no public bid to become the 47th president of the United States, she now has a 14% chance of winning the election, according to a bet on crypto betting site Polymarket.
Biden and Trump have a 12% and 63% respectively to claim a second term in the White House.
Similarly, a Harris-themed memecoin called Kamala Horris surged over 1,300% in the past week.
The question of where Harris stands on crypto is a pertinent one, given that the industry has become a hot button issue in this year’s election.
The Biden administration has been mostly adversarial against the crypto industry, but Harris’ stance is harder to suss out.
She has never taken an official stance towards crypto or commented on the industry.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Financial disclosures indicate that neither Harris nor her husband, Douglas Emhoff, have exposure to the cryptocurrency sector — instead preferring to invest in Treasury bonds and emerging markets.
However, during the 2020 election campaign, Harris did employ Ryan Montoya, the former chief technology officer of basketball team Sacramento Kings, as her director of scheduling and advance.
Under Montoya, the Sacramento Kings were the first sports team in the world to accept Bitcoin — a fact that he displays on his LinkedIn page.
The team also mined Ether and launched an NFT collection.
Montoya now works for the White House as an assistant to the president, though he retains his original scheduling role as well.
As such, he’s unlikely to have influence on policy.
But Harris, who hails from San Francisco, has strong ties to the tech industry, The New York Times reported in 2020.
Her nomination as vice-president was seen as “good news” for Silicon Valley.
With crypto lobbying efforts heating up — and Wall Street banks joining the foray on behalf of the industry — it could make sense for Harris to come out as pro-Bitcoin ahead of a tough presidential race.
Or she could pursue the same policies as Biden, and give crypto the cold shoulder.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin is down 5.2% over the past 24 hours, trading at $57,200.
- Ethereum has slumped 6.1% to $3,100.
What we’re reading
- The SEC is now going after crypto VCs, says BlockTower Capital founder — DL News.
- ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ Author Predicts Bitcoin To Hit $10 Million — Milk Road.
- How to Figure Out Whether a Crypto Token Is Worth Its Trading Price — Unchained.
- Tron’s Justin Sun Offers To Buy German Government’s Bitcoin Stash Amid Market Turmoil — Milk Road.
- UK crypto industry nervously looks ahead with voters poised to oust Tories for Labour — DL News.
Tom Carreras is a markets correspondent for DL News. Got a tip about Harris and Bitcoin? Reach out at tcarreras@dlnews.com.