Many in the industry don’t expect the Vice President to mention digital assets at the DNC, but her views on technology and regulation could signal a shift from Biden-era policies.
On Aug. 21, reports broke that an aide to Kamala Harris’ campaign said the Democratic nominee would “support policies that ensure that emerging technologies and that sort of industry can continue to grow,” referring to the crypto industry.
Though seemingly light on substantive policy, the reported move could signal a shift from the Harris campaign, which has previously stayed silent on digital assets. The aide who spoke to Bloomberg at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) was Brian Nelson, who left his position as the Department of the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to join the campaign.
Though the comments did not come directly from Vice President Harris, many advocates took to social media to speculate whether the statement could suggest her campaign — 31 days old as of Aug. 21 — would be more proactive in addressing concerns related to crypto and blockchain before the November election. Though Republican nominee Donald Trump previously called Bitcoin (BTC) a “scam” and “based on thin air,” in 2024, he moved to personally claim he would defend BTC miners, denounce central bank digital currencies, and spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference.
