Crypto advocates to rally in Washington D.C. alongside The Chainsmokers for upcoming 'Stand with Crypto Day'

Quick Take

  • The Sept. 18 event will come at the heels of a bus tour called the “America Loves Crypto Tour,” which visited five swing states.
  • Crypto has become a hotly contested election issue for the industry.

A U.S. crypto advocacy group will hold its second "Stand with Crypto Day" later this month, which will include a performance from The Chainsmokers in Washington D.C.

The Sept. 18 event will come at the heels of a bus tour called the "America Loves Crypto Tour," which will visit five swing states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Politico first reported the news.

“Our second Stand with Crypto Day will be the last stop in our swing state tour around the country rallying and registering crypto owners to vote," said Sabrina Siddiqui, a Stand with Crypto spokesperson, in a statement. "We know that crypto voters can make the difference in battleground states up and down the ballot this cycle, and we’re excited to talk about these voters with policymakers in DC."

The advocacy previously held a "Stand with Crypto Day" almost a year ago where they spoke with senators on Capitol Hill in an effort to get legislation to regulate the crypto industry. Small crypto business founders and other crypto stakeholders also joined that event.

Crypto voters and artists agree on a need for tough rules to hold people accountable, but they need rules and standards, said Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal in an interview with The Block, when asked about the event.

"I think it speaks to a wider connection between creatives, artists and others looking for ways to leverage technology to present their work to the world and their fans," Grewal said.

The Chainsmokers have delved into crypto before. The duo, alongside Paris Hilton, invested in CreatorDAO in August 2022. The DAO is a decentralized organization that provides financial and technological support for creators. The Chainsmokers, Nas, Logic and Kygo also previously invested in Royal — a startup building a marketplace for digital assets tied to music artists.

Crypto has become a hotly contested election issue for the industry. 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 candidate 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. Some key crypto industry players such as Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, have thrown their weight, and money, behind Trump.

Meanwhile, Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris has begun reaching out to the crypto industry and sources say her team wants to learn more about crypto. Eighty-eight top and former executives endorsed Harris in a letter shared with CNBC on Friday. That list included Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, former 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch and LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman.

Ripple has donated millions of dollars to federal super political action committee (PAC) Fairshake, in a move to support pro-crypto candidates in the upcoming U.S. election. This comes as Ripple has been embroiled in a yearslong legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the agency accused the company of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which it viewed as an unregistered security.


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About Author

Sarah is a reporter at The Block covering policy, regulation and legal happenings. Before, Sarah was a reporter with CQ Legal writing about securities regulation, which is where she first started reporting on crypto. Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other finance-related publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri and earned a degree in print and digital journalism. Sarah is based in Washington D.C., and is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.

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