Kamala Harris & Bitcoin: Why A Presidential Election Victory For Kamala Harris Is Good News For Cryptocurrency

As we approach November, the most highly anticipated event in the calendar (besides the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF)) is the US Presidential election. Given how close former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris are running in the polls, there has been a lot of speculation as to who will win.

One of the less discussed issues surrounding the next potential US president is how friendly their policies will be towards cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin.

Both candidates have occasionally expressed their views surrounding cryptocurrencies and how their presidency would go about regulating it. For investors and holders of cryptocurrencies, here’s why a Kamala Harris victory next month could be good news for the cryptocurrency world.

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Not To Be Outdone By Trump

It’s well known that former President Trump has been vocal about how he would support the crypto industry if he were elected US President again. He has even launched his own cryptocurrency venture – named World Liberty Financial – and has stated in a livestream on X (formerly known as Twitter) that “crypto is one those things we have to do”.

Sensing an opportunity to appeal to different demographics, Vice President Harris has made efforts to connect with the cryptocurrency industry and show her support for its healthy development. While her position earlier in the campaign wasn’t always clear, she has made overtures to the crypto industry in the past few months.

For example, in mid-October, Vice President Harris announced a flurry of initiatives and measures if she was elected President. One of them included a plan that supports a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Owners of Bitcoin, the most widely-traded cryptocurrency in the world, will likely be happy to hear this news. Many industry players have already been calling for clearer regulations so that a lot of the nefarious activity in the crypto space can be properly eliminated. By extension, the good opeartors will have a chance to shine without any looming policy uncertainties.

Liberal Stance Could Benefit Crypto

Given Vice President Harris is a Democrat – and therefore considered more liberal than her Republican rival candidate – the automatic assumption is that she would want to tighten the screws on the crypto industry and suffocate its potential growth.

However, she has remained open about the technology that underpins all crypto – blockchain. In a speech in late September, she said it was important that the US remains dominant in blockchain technology. Her election team also released a policy document that stated she would “encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets”.

This open-mindedness to crypto is a break to current President Joe Biden, who is well known for his reluctance to support the cryptocurrency sector.

Politics And Political Action Committees (PACs) In Crypto

Electoral considerations are also coming into play when looking at Vice President Harris and her policy stance on the crypto world. Her team says that more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets.

This is also a demographic in the election (young, Black men) that Vice President Harris wants to appeal further to given polls showing that former President Trump is set to capture a higher percentage of the male, Black vote.

Furthermore, her team is taking donations from individuals that operate in the crypto world. For example, it was revealed that a super political action committee (PAC) that’s supporting Vice President Harris – named Future Forward – took a US$1 million donation (in the form of XRP tokens) from co-founder and chairman of Ripple, Chris Larsen.

Given her upbringing in the “Bay Area” of the US, a technology and innovation hub, Vice President Harris has instilled more confidence in influential figures in the crypto world. Indeed, Larsen himself donated personally to her campaign and said that “she knows people who have grown up in the innovation economy her whole life”.

As the main cryptocurrency, Bitcoin could certainly benefit from a more regulated crypto industry that still allows for growth and innovation. With Vice President Harris’s recent statements of intent in the crypto space, a victory for her in the election next month could indeed be good news for the future of digital assets in the US.

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Image Credit: Kamala Harris