According to U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is using the company’s commerce platform to accept cryptocurrency donations for her campaign, Coinbase CFO Alicia Haas told Fortune.
The statement came during a conversation with Citigroup’s chief payments officer, Peter Christiansen, at Citi’s 2024 Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference in New York, where Fortune reviewed a recording of the conversation.
Breaking News: Coinbase CFO Says Kamala Harris Campaign Is Using Coinbase to Accept Crypto Donations – Fortune 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/EWhSFY205R
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 4, 2024
“She accepts crypto donations, and she is now using Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto for her own campaign,” Haas reportedly said.
However, Harris’s pro-Crypto4Harris group said it was unaware of the move. Additionally, Harris’s official fundraising site does not yet offer crypto donation options. The Harris campaign and Coinbase have been contacted for comment, but Fortune has not received a response at the time of writing.
The “Crypto for Harris” initiative, launched last month, aims to rally support from crypto enthusiasts as Harris seeks to boost her presidential bid.
“It has tremendous potential, and we are cautiously optimistic,” Haas continued. “It hasn’t revealed the details yet, but it has made suggestions that it would like to lead cryptocurrency legislation.”
Harris’ decision to accept crypto donations represents a strategic move to take on her opponent Donald Trump, who earlier this year embraced Bitcoin Lightning Network donations for his campaign. Trump’s alliances with the Bitcoin community were strengthened when he spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville — an event that Harris notably declined to attend.