Kamala Harris’s advisers reportedly reach out to crypto industry with ‘pro-business, responsible business’ message

Advisers to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team have reached out to key players in the crypto sector to develop relationships that could create a regulatory framework, sources told the Financial Times.

The report noted that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, stablecoin company Circle and blockchain payments company Ripple Labs have also been involved in these efforts in recent days.

A source told the FT that Harris’ message was that Democrats were “pro-business, responsible business”.

Democrats’ surge to the top of the presidential race is seen as an opportunity to reset relations with the tech sector after the Biden administration’s regulatory stance sparked a backlash in an industry that traditionally leans more liberal.

The Harris campaign, Coinbase and Circle did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Ripple pointed to recent statements from CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted to social media platform X.

On Friday, he urged Harris to stay away from “those kinds of people who talk complete nonsense,” referring to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a staunch critic of cryptocurrency.

“Dems don’t win votes because they’re anti-crypto (and therefore anti-innovation), Republicans win votes because they embrace and encourage innovation in the US,” Garlinghouse said. “It’s time to get on the same page as many other leading economies and governments that have clear rules of the road.”

In his post on Wednesday, he warned against jumping to conclusions about candidates based solely on their party affiliation, adding that Harris is familiar with Silicon Valley and has the opportunity to provide a reset on issues such as crypto regulations.

“I’ll keep an open mind for now, but I also agree that Gary Gensler would be miscalculating his political responsibility if he used Elizabeth Warren-style rhetoric,” he wrote.

Indeed, SEC Chairman Gensler has drawn particular ire, even from Democratic allies like billionaire Mark Cuban, who recently called on Biden to fire him.

However, cryptocurrency enthusiast Cuban told Decrypt that Harris campaign advisors had recently reached out to him.

“I’ve been getting multiple questions from his camp about crypto,” he said on Tuesday. “So I take that as a good sign.”

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has begun making moves towards the crypto sector after changing his previously skeptical stance and speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference on Saturday.

The presidential election has become a major fault line dividing Silicon Valley, with venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowtiz and Winklevoss backing Trump. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and SV Angel’s Ron Conway are among other big-name tech experts who have publicly backed Harris.

This story was first published on Fortune.com