Crypto Exec Pushing for Industry Support of Kamala Harris for President

The former CEO of a cryptocurrency platform is trying to build a crypto following for Vice President Kamala Harris in hopes of raising money and securing industry support for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Former Uphold CEO JP Thieriot says he hopes to counter the digital asset industry’s recent interest in former President Donald Trump.

JP Thieriot, the former CEO of crypto platform Uphold, is trying to drum up crypto support for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, arguing that former President Donald Trump made empty promises to the industry while Harris is signaling a new openness.

Trump, the Republican candidate in the 2024 race, has quickly become a crypto favorite, drawing big-money support from industry leaders while giving the digital assets industry (which he had been openly skeptical of until recently) a run for office. But Thieriot said there was a “real opportunity for the Harris campaign to help shape his position on crypto.”

“Of course he’ll have to do some things to gain confidence, but he’s signaled that he wants a chance,” Thieriot, who said he still has a stake in Uphold and has set up a new crypto trading operation, said in an interview. “It would be crazy not to get involved.”

He said he wrote a strategy document with a broader group, including crypto lawyers whose names he declined to disclose. They shared that document with Harris’ campaign this week and are awaiting a response.

“We argue that crypto is the most important state swing issue of this election cycle,” the strategy document reviewed by CoinDesk said. “Trump has already moved to try to capture this space and has raised significant capital, offering essentially vague platitudes and no meaningful policy commitments.”

The article suggested launching a crypto fundraiser in San Francisco, predicting that Harris could gain support from prominent crypto figures and raise tens of millions of dollars in campaign donations from the industry. Thieriot said he has set up a website and the effort can be reached at [email protected].

Trump has the strongest industry support. He recently spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tenn., where he said he would end government resistance to cryptocurrencies, exemplified by the actions of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and opposition from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

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Despite President Joe Biden’s appointment of Gensler and continued support for his oversight of the cryptocurrency industry, “I think Kamala has an opportunity to start with a clean slate,” Thieriot said. That’s the strategy he and other supporters have in mind: Making it clear that his administration will work with the industry and support clear rules for it, and showing that he’s open to a friendlier chief at the SEC.

Thieriot isn’t alone among crypto insiders who currently support Harris. Tonya Evans, a prominent crypto law professor and board member of the Digital Currency Group, argued that Harris offers a chance for a new path that differs from the Gensler/Warren views that have dominated this administration. Evans is among the group of decentralized finance leaders who support the vice president and are planning an organizational meeting on Thursday.

The latest national polls show Harris with a narrow lead over Trump, but the candidates are nearly tied.