- Crypto will be the real winner on November 5, says Coinbase top lawyer.
- However, some doubt that crypto is an election issue at all.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal bets that the next set of elected lawmakers will be friendlier toward crypto, no matter who wins the US election.
“We are going to see a pro-crypto Congress emerge, regardless of the particular outcome in individual races and, of course, the outcome of the presidential race,” Grewal told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Bipartisan support for crypto-friendly legislation is mounting on Capitol Hill, he said.
Grewal’s comments come as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris draw neck and neck in the polls.
Coinbase is the US’s biggest listed crypto exchange, and has led the push to make crypto a key issue in the upcoming vote, one that could tip the scales.
Thawing on Capitol Hill
Grewal seems confident that those efforts are paying off.
The House of Representatives passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act in May with bipartisan support and Democrats in the upper chamber are also warming to the industry, he said.
Senate Democrats such as Kirsten Gillibrand and Debbie Stabenow “express a real interest in moving forward that legislation,” Grewal said.
Both senators have launched their own drafts of ambitious legal frameworks for crypto assets.
“We’re pleased to see members of both houses and on both sides of the aisle understand that 52 million Americans or more who have bought or sold a digital asset are expecting Congress to do its job,” Grewal said.
Warchest
The 52 million estimate comes from Coinbase’s own research. The company is one of the largest donors to the industry’s staggering $174 million warchest.
It is the top donor to Fairshake, a political action committee that doles out money to support crypto-friendly candidates running for election.
Crypto industry heavyweights like the Winkelvoss twins — of Facebook fame — have donated heavily to Republicans, who are seen as broadly friendlier to crypto.
That’s thanks in large part to Trump, who has promised to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.”
Coinbase, however, has been staunchly publicly non-partisan, donating roughly equally to Democratic and Republican candidates.
Grewal told Bloomberg the company was “in touch with both sides, both the Trump campaign and the Harris campaign, as they develop their crypto policies and begin engaging with the crypto voter.”
The stakes are high in this election for the crypto industry.
The administration of President Joe Biden is seen as broadly hostile to the industry.
The Securities and Exchange Commission under Chair Gary Gensler in particular has pursued scores of lawsuits against crypto defendants — including against Coinbase itself.
Grewal emphasised that the administration should not be conflated with the Harris campaign.
He said that while Trump’s campaign is more explicitly embracing pro-crypto policies, Harris’ campaign “has expressed an interest and has begun discussions about what a new approach to crypto and digital assets could look like.”
Challenge
Coinbase’s push has not gone unchallenged.
The Federal Election Commission is considering accusations that Coinbase violated campaign finance rules, following a complaint from blogger Molly White and watchdog Public Citizen.
White has also rejected Coinbase’s assertions that 52 million Americans care enough about crypto to make it an election issue. She argued that the figure offers little insight into how consumers use or feel about crypto.
A survey funded by the Federal Reserve and conducted by polling giant Ipsos shows that 7% of Americans transacted in crypto in 2023.
Reach out to the author at joanna@dlnews.com.