What a difference a week makes. On Thursday, July 18, Donald Trump formally accepted the GOP nomination as its candidate for the 2024 presidential election at the Republican National Convention, just days after he survived an assassination attempt. On Sunday, July 21, at 1:46 pm ET, as President Biden announced his decision not to seek re-election, everything changed. The political landscape became as volatile as a bitcoin price chart.
With an endorsement from Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris has quickly become the presumptive nominee for Democrats, raising small-dollar donations at a pace reminiscent of Barack Obama’s insurgent 2008 presidential campaign. However, the enthusiasm stops at the door of a well-funded crypto industry that has taken an offensive position to protect itself from a hostile regulatory environment and driven it to coalesce around a single-issue voting block set to cast its votes for the GOP nominee.
Almost as soon as the Biden news broke, I began to see social media posts from the crypto community about what a Harris administration’s stance on crypto would be. Would she continue a regulation-by-enforcement and hostile policy position, or embrace the opportunity to reimagine crypto policy with a view toward embracing the new economy? Or set off in a new direction?
Then, I saw a flurry of social media musings that Vice President Harris is considering attending the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, taking place from July 25 to July 27 in Nashville, Tennessee. Trump, Michael Saylor, and Elon Musk are also expected to appear, making it a significant event with high stakes.
On Thursday, July 24, conference organizer and Bitcoin Magazine’s CEO David Bailey shared on X that VP Harris declined to attend. It seemed highly unlikely that she would be able to attend given that scheduling a senior Federal official takes longer than 48 hours. The process involves coordination, review and vetting by multiple offices and the requisite approvals.
Nonetheless, even the consideration is a win. With the crypto industry’s voice on the Harris campaign’s radar, Harris now has an opportunity to address a deeply concerned and invested group of bitcoiners and begin the reparative work of bridge-building to counter the anti-crypto aggression and regulation-by-enforcement initiatives deployed by the current administration.
The Biden Administration’s Anti-Crypto Policy
Under Biden, cryptocurrency regulation has been marked by a confusing and confounding enforcement-heavy approach, largely influenced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Known for her skepticism of the crypto industry, Warren has advocated for strict regulatory measures to protect consumers and maintain financial stability. Her influence is evident in the administration’s “Chokepoint 2.0” strategy and in the stance of her ally SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, as well as prudential regulators who restricted the crypto industry’s access to traditional banking services, effectively “de-banking” the sector.
Source:- yahoo.finance
