(Kitco News) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is looking to rehabilitate the image of Democrats in the eyes of cryptocurrency voters as she was reportedly in talks to speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville this week, joining a line-up that already includes presidential candidates Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
We’re in talks with Kamala Harris campaign for her to speak at the conference. Would be very savvy of her to reset the democrat positioning on the fastest growing voter block in the country. They’re making up their minds today.
— David Bailey?? $0.65mm/btc is the floor (@DavidFBailey) July 23, 2024
The conference, set to take place from July 25-27, is one of the largest cryptocurrency events of the year and offers a prime opportunity for the candidates to address the community directly and present themselves as allies.
But a follow-up post from Bailey said the talks fell through, noting that it would have likely been a hostile environment for the presidential hopeful following years of anti-crypto actions from the Biden-Harris administration.
“Kamala Harris will not be speaking @TheBitcoinConf. No surprise,” Bailey tweeted. “What can she say to us when she’s actively imprisoning developers, forcing our industry overseas, attacking PoW… it would have been a disaster for her. All eyes on Trump now.”
The original announcement elicited mixed reactions from the community, with most saying it's ‘too little, too late,’ while others were open to the idea of a more crypto-friendly approach by Democrats.
“Talk is cheap,” tweeted Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini. “She would need to start by immediately firing Gary Gensler, withdrawing all SEC enforcement actions against good actors, and ending Operation Chokepoint 2.0. She won’t do this so she won’t stand a chance in winning back the crypto voting block. Time for change.”
Tyler’s brother Cameron Winklevoss expanded on why the community is skeptical of this sudden change of heart. “The Biden-Harris Administration didn't ignore crypto. They didn't laugh at crypto. They tried to fight and kill crypto,” he said. “If you operate in bad faith and want to extend a sincere olive branch, you first need to demonstrate good faith.”
A reminder for the those suffering from crypto amnesia partisan syndrome (CAPS):
Crypto was non-partisan during the Obama Administration.
Crypto was non-partisan during the Trump Administration.
Crypto was MADE partisan by the Biden-Harris Administration.— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) July 24, 2024
Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida Wealth, saw the move as a shift in messaging as the negative political ramifications for attacking crypto grow.
“THE OVERTON WINDOW HAS MOVED,” Ahluwalia said. “Candidate Harris is speaking at the Bitcoin Conference? Will the admin terminate Chair Gensler? Isn’t that the only action that counts? Two Presidential Candidates are competing to win the affections of crypto natives at the Bitcoin conference. Both flip-flopped in the pursuit of political expediency. […] If Biden & Harris are serious, they should terminate Chair Gensler.”
For the most part, the community is giving the cold shoulder to the party they view as the driving force behind the anti-crypto legislation over the past several years.
“Democrats spent four years trying to destroy Bitcoin,” tweeted Wayne Vaughan. “Kamala Harris only wants to speak at The Bitcoin Conference because she’s desperate to avoid losing this election. Democrats want some of that sweet money raised by pro-crypto Super PACs. Don’t be fooled. Vote them out.”
Amid the pushback from crypto fans, Harris received support from an unexpected source – crypto proponent and entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who mentioned that Harris’ team had reached out to him with questions about cryptocurrency.
“I’m getting multiple questions from her camp about crypto,” Cuban told POLITICO. “So I take that as a good sign. The feedback I’m getting, but certainly not confirmed by the VP, is that she will be far more open to business, [artificial intelligence], crypto and government as a service. Changing the policies changes the message and lets everyone know she is in charge and open, literally, for business.”
Last week, Cuban commented on the surge in support Trump was seeing from Silicon Valley, calling it “a Bitcoin play.”
“Not because the former President is a far stronger proponent of crypto,” he tweeted. “That’s nice. But doesn’t really impact the price of crypto. It makes it easier to operate a crypto business because of the inevitable, and required, changes at the SEC.”
“What will drive the price of BTC is lower tax rates and tariffs, which if history is any guide (and it’s not always ), will be inflationary,” Cuban said. “Combine that with global uncertainty as to the geopolitical role of the USA, and the impact on the US Dollar as a reserve currency, and you can’t align the stars any better for a BTC price acceleration.”
He then touched on where he thinks Bitcoin is headed in the years to come. “How high can the price go[?] Way higher than you think,” he said. “Remember, the market for BTC is global. And the supply has a final limit of 21m BTC, with unlimited fractionalization.”
“Keep that in mind as you consider what happens if because of geopolitical uncertainty and the decline of the dollar as the reserve currency, BTC becomes a ‘safe-haven’ globally,” Cuban said. “Which means that BTC could be what countries and all of us look to buy as a means to protect our savings. Crazy? It already happens in countries facing hyperinflation.”
“And if things really go further than we can imagine today (and I’m not saying they will. Just that this has a possibility somewhere above zero), then BTC becomes exactly what the Maxis envision. A global currency.”
These statements from Cuban are part of the reason the buzz around Trump potentially announcing Bitcoin as a strategic asset at the Bitcoin 2024 conference has been growing on social media channels, even if such a development is unlikely to happen in the near future.
Forbes: "As the largest nation-state holder of #bitcoin, the United States already has a leg-up over other countries in accumulating digital gold. But classifying—and then treating—bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset would kick the nation-state race for bitcoin into high gear." pic.twitter.com/yG13rm50cC
— TFTC (@TFTC21) July 3, 2024
