Schumer joins growing chorus of pro-crypto Democrats—but Harris keeps silent for now

The 2024 presidential election has become a referendum on the future of cryptocurrency—or at least that’s what the blockchain industry is trying to convince politicians. With the support of the cycle’s most-funded super PAC, crypto leaders convinced former President Donald Trump to become a Bitcoin supporter. Now they’re hoping to convince Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, to make the crypto case.

After Trump gave a speech at this year’s annual Bitcoin conference in Nashville in July, Democrats in the crypto space are working to turn the tide and convince blockchain supporters to vote blue, while Harris’ campaign is making progress. A new grassroots organization, Crypto for Harris, is holding a virtual meeting on Wednesday and will feature top Democratic politicians including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and former House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), as well as Mark Cuban and Adam Scaramucci.

In an interview with Fortune, Crypto for Harris organizer G Clay Miller, a former Senate aide and organizer for Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) 2020 presidential campaign, said the idea came after watching Trump build overwhelming support in the crypto industry. “There was a lot of pent-up energy among Democratic crypto operators who saw this opportunity as a chance for Democrats to redefine the narrative around crypto,” he said.

Reset or retreat?

The last presidential election saw a massive wave of campaign funding from the crypto sector, but the bulk of that funding came from a single source: Sam Bankman-Fried and his now-bankrupt company FTX, which donated over $93 million to candidates from across the party.

Following his fame, Democrats quickly distanced themselves from the disgraced founder (who Bankman-Fried himself considered the most visible recipient of his stolen money). The party also took aim at the crypto sector more broadly, holding a series of hearings as a referendum on the sector as regulators like Gary Gensler’s Securities and Exchange Commission pressed him with enforcement actions.

While crypto has supporters in Congress among Democrats, including Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.), Republicans have positioned themselves as champions of the struggling industry, including advancing two bills through the House Financial Services Committee. Meanwhile, many leaders in the cryptocurrency industry have blamed Biden administration officials and political appointees for the crackdown.

Additionally, companies like Coinbase and a16z crypto have rushed to close the Bankman-Fried-sized crypto donation gap, leading lobbying and funding efforts through organizations like Stand with Crypto and Fairshake, a crypto-focused super PAC with a battle fund exceeding $200 million.

While the two groups and many industry leaders claim to support candidates from both political parties, the industry has shifted significantly to the right since Trump embraced crypto. The former President, who once decried Bitcoin, has warmed to the industry following the launch of an NFT collection and became a full-fledged supporter at a recent Bitcoin conference. Meanwhile, prominent industry figures such as the Winklevoss twins, Marc Andreessen, and Ben Horowitz have voiced their support for Trump.

Harris, meanwhile, has remained a blank slate on crypto, though her team has made some progress toward the blockchain sector, including holding private meetings with industry leaders. Others have expressed skepticism about any reset by the Biden administration, pointing to senior advisers to his campaign who have previously taken anti-blockchain positions, including former National Economic Council director and deputy director Brian Deese and Bharat Ramamurti.

Crypto for Harris

The new grassroots organization Crypto for Harris faces a tough task in convincing many in the industry to switch their allegiance to the Democratic Party. Miller, along with his two co-organizers, Democratic strategist Will Schweitzer and former Justice Department attorney Amanda Wick, are still outlining the group’s goals after Wednesday’s meeting, including a national roadshow that will likely include fundraising efforts. Miller told Fortune that the group has not yet been established as a formal political action organization, but that could change in the future. While Crypto for Harris has not been able to change the course of the campaign or convince the crypto industry, Miller said the goal is to start a conversation and calm the enthusiasm around Trump.

Even if Harris’ stance on crypto is unclear, Miller said Trump’s newfound embrace of digital assets should be taken with a pinch of salt — after all, it was only a few years ago that he called Bitcoin a “fraud.”

“If you look at the actions that the Trump administration took while he was in office, they were not particularly pro-crypto,” Miller told Fortune. “A lot of the pro-crypto Republican supporters misunderstand how supportive Trump was.”

Pro-crypto Democrats will speak at Wednesday’s event, including Torres, Nickel and a video by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), but no one from her camp will be present, though Miller said the group has been in contact with the Harris campaign.

This story was first published on Fortune.com