Bitcoin wasn’t a big topic at this week’s Democratic National Convention. Not a single speaker at the event uttered a word about the cash system or other crypto assets from the main stage at the United Center in Chicago. It was hard to hear a conversation about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies anywhere in the hallways.
However, despite the fact that Democrats chose not to include Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in their official platform, some high-ranking Democrats said this week that a Harris administration would be more pro-Bitcoin and cryptocurrency than a Biden administration — though no specifics were provided. Also, at conference events, some Democrats spoke passionately about why their party should embrace Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Congressman Wiley Nickel (D-NC), a supporter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, spoke about the idea that the Harris administration would take a different approach to the crypto industry than the Biden administration.
“Vice President Harris has been working for and as part of the Biden-Harris administration, but now she comes to this campaign with her own positions on issues,” Rep. Nickel told Bitcoin Magazine in an interview at the conference.
“A lot has happened over the last few weeks, so she’s (only now) starting to put policy positions forward. It’s not going to be an immediate process of her putting forward things that she would do differently than President Biden, but she’s going to take different positions on issues, and she’s going to make that known,” he added.
Wednesday, Bloomberg News Agency reported that Vice President Harris said she would introduce policies to support the cryptocurrency industry if elected, according to her campaign’s senior policy adviser, who spoke at a Bloomberg News roundtable at the conference.
The article touched on how Harris plans to engage with the cryptocurrency industry, though it did not provide any details on how she plans to do so. The article also quoted Harris as saying she plans to “cut unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape” while encouraging “innovative technologies” by providing “transparent rules of the road,” though none of Harris’ quotes in the article included any direct references to Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.
Rep. Nickel did not offer any details on what Harris’ policy might look like, saying he did not want to speak on Harris’ behalf, but he pointed to the success of Crypto4Harris Town Hallan event held on Wednesday, August 15, which featured Democratic lawmakers including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) as well as billionaire cryptocurrency enthusiast Mark Cuban, who noted that there was “a real sense of momentum among Democrats on this issue.”
Rep. Nickel also asked Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts to pay attention to one particular warning.
“The anti-crypto names you hear are just inventions by people trying to hurt her campaign,” Rep. Nickel said. Rumors Harris is expected to bring back into the fold the likes of Brian Ries and Bharat Ramamurti, Biden administration economic advisers who were behind Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
“I don’t believe the strange names we hear in nominations for big jobs. I heard Gary Gensler’s name for Treasury Secretary. I can tell you that his chances of getting confirmed by the Senate are zero percent,” he added.
“That’s not going to happen.”
Pro-Bitcoin/Crypto Democrats Speak at Satellite Events
At an event held at a University of Chicago facility, Cliff MessidorCEO of Blockchain Foundation Former US Congressman John Kerry, who served as director of public affairs at the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, spoke at a panel titled “Democrats’ Path Forward on Digital Assets and Cryptocurrencies.”
Today: I’ll be speaking in Chicago at the Democratic Convention!
I am pleased to be part of this panel hosted by @progress room & @Business ForwardWhich is also characterized by the following:@RepWileyNickel | @clydevanel | @JBSDC @model| @Kyle Blegen
= Democrats’ Path Forward on Digital Assets and Cryptocurrencies = pic.twitter.com/WIYggp1V9o
— Cliff Messidor (@cmesi) August 21, 2024
Mesidor shared her view on the importance of cryptocurrencies, which differed markedly from the views of anti-cryptocurrency Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)
“Sen. Liz Warren and Rep. Brad Sherman are stuck for time,” Messidor said at the symposium.
“They are so intent on fighting big money, so focused on beating up the big players, that their blind spot is the fact that communities of color are the biggest adopters of crypto. Black and Latino communities are driving national adoption of this $2 trillion market,” she added.
“Let’s be clear, consumer protection is important — and we need safety barriers. But if you don’t couple that with financial inclusion, then you’re saying to all the communities that have benefited from bitcoin over the last 15 years — that have succeeded in achieving something, that have built products and services on the blockchain — that you’re going to continue to[support]policies to ensure that they can’t continue to participate.”
Messidor, who is Latina, was emotional as she spoke, feeling that Democrats are missing a key narrative around Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. At the same time, she acknowledged why they might be wary of looking positively at the crypto industry.
“Democrats have PTSD,” she told me in an interview after the symposium.
“They have PTSD because predatory lenders, as we call them today, came to them decades ago and said we’re going to democratize finance. The internet was supposed to democratize us, right? It was supposed to be decentralized. And today, big tech is no longer diverse,” she added.
New York Assemblyman Clyde Funnell (D), a member of the New York State Legislative Black, Puerto Rican, Latino and Asian Caucus, was also on the committee.
Fennell recalls first learning about cryptocurrencies in the mid-2000s and being impressed by how they were spurring financial savvy among inner-city youth.
“I went to different high schools and there were high school students (who owned crypto) using the same muscles that seasoned investors use, watching the markets,” Vannell recounted.
“We had a small store in my neighborhood that had a bitcoin ATM. I went into the store and saw a line of young people buying different denominations of bitcoin — which was amazing,” he added.
Not only was Vanel happy to see his constituents acquire Bitcoin because of the financial benefits they might have gained from investing in it, but also because blockchain technology gives those in his community an alternative to the traditional financial system, which some — including his father — distrust.
“My father never used a bank, and he never trusted a bank,” Vanell said. “He used check-cashing places.”
Vanel also touched on the use case for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency remittance payments.
“When I send money to another country, he spends a lot of money doing it,” Vanel said, still talking about his father. “What does it mean to make sure we make it easy for people like him to transfer value?”
Since Finnell understands the benefits of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies well, he is happy to see Democrats starting to realize them.
“I’m very excited that this event is happening on the heels of this campaign to showcase the importance of financial inclusion (through) digital technology,” said Fanel. “Ten years ago, this would not have happened at the national conference.”
Not far from the event where Messidor and Vanille spoke, an event titled Crypto DNC The event was co-hosted by Reps. Bill Foster (D-IL) and the aforementioned Willie Nickel.
🎉New Speaker Announcement!
We are happy to be here. @RepBillFoster As a featured speaker at our event next Wednesday in Chicago in 2024. @DemConvention
Be sure to respond now to secure your spot!
Records: https://t.co/mJzVzchfx2
Or register below 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/V9lnPlgmox
— CryptoDNC (@crypto_dnc) August 16, 2024
During a friendly chat at the event, Rep. Nickel shared that not embracing encryption would be like not embracing the internet two and a half decades ago.
Are Democrats serious?
Have Democrats really changed their stance on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies or are they just pandering to single-issue voters who might vote for Trump because of his pro-crypto stance?
That seems to be the question on the minds of most Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts. Part of the reason many are hesitant to trust the Democrats’ Proposition 180 on cryptocurrencies may be due to the Biden administration’s support for the initiative by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Organizing by implementation The approach to the cryptocurrency industry over the past three and a half years.
Rep. Wiley Nickel appears to be making a serious attempt to get Democrats to “reset” their approach to crypto, but is Harris really listening? And can the likes of Assemblymember Vannell and Ms. Meridor raise their pro-crypto voices loud enough to get the attention of a potential Harris administration?
We’ll have to wait and see.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.