(Kitco News) – Day by day, it appears as though U.S. politicians are increasingly coming to the realization that standing in opposition to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies is an untenable position to hold as the number of crypto holders continues to rise.
The latest sign of this growing understanding came on Wednesday when Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) withdrew his support for the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act (DAAMLA), a controversial anti-crypto bill he co-sponsored with Democratic Party Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2022.
Data provided by the official Congress directory for DAAMLA shows that Marshall withdrew his support as a co-sponsor of the bill on July 24, leaving 18 senators still supporting the legislation.
As noted by Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of The Digital Chamber, only one Republican – Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) – remains on the list of co-sponsors.
“After tremendous community pressure, Sen. @RogerMarshallMD has withdrawn his support for the Crypto Ban Bill S2669. This is a massive victory for our community! It's incredibly rare for a senator to back away from their own bill,” Boring tweeted. “We only have one more Republican to go so Senator Elizabeth Warren can't claim bipartisan support. @LindseyGrahamSC, it's time to step away!”
The withdrawal is notable as Marshall joined Warren in introducing the bill in December 2022, with Warren saying at the time that crypto was being used by “rogue nations, oligarchs, drug lords, and human traffickers [...] to launder billions in stolen funds.”
Warren reintroduced the DAAMLA bill to the US Senate in July 2023, targeting illicit uses of crypto assets for money laundering and terrorist financing.
The purpose of the legislation is to require crypto companies to abide by existing Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing frameworks. The industry has pushed back against the language of the bill, saying it’s too broad as it declares a large number of crypto service providers – including decentralized wallet providers, validators, and miners – to be financial institutions, mandating that they be subject to the terms of the Bank Secrecy Act.”
At the time of writing, Marshall’s office has not responded to a request for a comment on the matter.
Harris reaches out to crypto companies
Newly minted Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is also looking to improve her image in the eyes of crypto voters as a report from TheBlock says members of her presidential campaign team have begun reaching out to ask questions about the cryptocurrency industry.
Harris' team wants to learn more about crypto, a source who spoke with a member of her campaign team said, calling the discussion itself a “relatively high-level intro conversation.” Her team inquired about why crypto is getting a lot of attention and wanted more information on past conversations the crypto industry had with President Joe Biden's advisor.
“My impression is they get that this matters,” the source told TheBlock. “They want to have positions on it… they're going to take their time.”
Earlier this week, reports circulated that Harris was in talks to potentially speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee – where Presidential candidates RFK Jr. and Donald Trump were already scheduled to speak – but those talks ultimately fell through.
David Bailey, CEO of BitcoinMagazine, said the decision to not speak was likely influenced by the fact that the conference would have 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.
Harris’ olive branch to the crypto community has borne some fruit, however, as she 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.”
Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, told TheBlock that certain moves made by team Harris already suggest that she is going to break from the Biden administration on several key issues, including cryptocurrencies.
“She is carving a new path forward, and there is no reason to believe that crypto policy is not going to be a part of that,” Warren said. “If anything, every piece of evidence that I think is actually concrete shows she is going to have an open mind and make up her own mind about things.”
Harris is open to technology and understands job growth, Warren said. “The fact that they're already having conversations, quietly expressing interest, I think, is really telling, and it's a really good signal,” she added.
The outreach by team Harris comes as Presidential candidate Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) have vowed to end an “unlawful and un-American crackdown” on the crypto industry in the U.S., with Trump referring to himself as the first ‘crypto president.’
According to a report from CNBC, Trump has raised more than $4 million via cryptocurrency donations following his pro-crypto pivot, with most of the donations coming in the form of Bitcoin (BTC).
The Federal Election Commission filing detailing the contributions shows the “Trump 47” joint fundraising committee raised more than $118 million from April 1 to June 30, with payouts going to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and other parties.
Trump has enjoyed large donations from multiple crypto heavyweights who see him as being the more favorable candidate for the crypto industry. The list includes Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who each contributed 15.57 Bitcoin or just over $1 million at the time of their donation, Kraken founder and former CEO Jesse Powell, who donated nearly $845,000 in Ether, and Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer of Ripple, who gave $300,000 in the XRP token.
Political action committees (PACs) have also raised millions ahead of the upcoming election, including the pro-crypto group Fairshake, which has raised more than $200 million, becoming the largest super PAC of this U.S. election cycle.
