VP Kamala Harris to 'support policies' to help digital assets grow, senior campaign adviser says: Bloomberg

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to support measures to help the digital asset industry grow, said Brian Nelson, the presidential candidate's senior campaign adviser.

Nelson, who serves as under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury Department, said Harris would "support policies that ensure that emerging technologies and that sort of industry can continue to grow," in an interview on Wednesday with the Bloomberg News roundtable at the Democratic National Convention. 

He also noted the industry has been calling for "stable rules."

Both the U.S. Treasury and Harris' spokesperson, Kevin Munoz, have yet to respond to request for comment from The Block by press time.

Crypto has become a hotly contested election issue for the industry. Crypto firms have spent $119 million in 2024, with almost all of the funds going into super political action committees, specifically the Fairshake PAC, according to a report from consumer advocacy group Public Citizen released on Wednesday. 

Crypto firms' spending is second in all total election-related spending, the group said. 

Some key crypto industry players have thrown their weight, and money, behind Trump. Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss donated $2 million worth of bitcoin to Trump. On X, Cameron Winklevoss said he planned to vote for Trump, calling the former president "pro-bitcoin, pro-crypto, pro-business."

Former President Donald Trump has been seen as friendly toward the industry with promises to end an "unlawful and un-American crackdown" on the U.S. crypto industry. The Republican presidential candidates has also made inroads with the industry by selecting crypto-friendly J.D. Vance as his running mate and promised to advocate for bitcoin miners.

Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Harris has begun reaching out to the crypto industry and says her team wants to learn more about crypto. A grassroots effort, called Crypto4Harris, held a townhall on Aug. 14 in a move to "do a formal reset." Some in the crypto industry have criticized the current Biden administration's approach to regulating digital assets. 

"Concerted efforts by a number of actors are making tangible progress," said Jonathan Padilla, one of the organizers for Crypto4Harris, in a message. "I think we're seeing stage 1 of the reset. Folks should stay tuned."

At the townhall, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he intends to pass legislation to regulate crypto by the end of this year.