- Crypto investors worry Kamala Harris will uphold Biden’s stringent regulations, which they believe stifle innovation in the digital asset space.
- High-profile crypto supporters like Chris Larsen and Mark Cuban have backed Harris, hoping she might adapt policies for a more favorable crypto environment.
In the lead-up to the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the dynamics of digital assets, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, are drawing heightened attention. This race, seen as pivotal for crypto investors, is defined by contrasting visions for the sector between the candidates. With Kamala Harris, the current Vice President and Democratic candidate, crypto advocates are cautious, fearing a continuation of the Biden administration’s regulatory and tax-heavy approach, which many in the sector believe has stymied innovation and growth in digital assets.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump has positioned himself as a candidate more favorable to the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, platforms like Polymarket, which specialize in prediction markets and allow users to wager on election outcomes using tokens and cryptocurrencies, indicate a Trump lead. As of recent polls, Trump holds a notable advantage in this community, with a predicted 65.3% likelihood of winning, compared to Harris’ 34.8%.
The Trump campaign has further strengthened its stance by gaining support from high-profile tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, a development that appears to have tipped the scales among crypto-interested voters.
For Harris, the challenge is substantial. The regulatory stance of the Biden administration, enforced in part by agencies like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has proven controversial within the digital asset sector. The SEC, under Chair Gary Gensler, has pursued legal actions against major crypto exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, which many investors view as overreaching.
Additionally, the administration’s efforts to veto financial reforms, such as the SAB 121 bill, have signaled to some that regulated financial institutions will remain largely excluded from crypto custodial services—an aspect that directly impacts the industry’s growth.
Moreover, Biden’s fiscal policy, which included significant tax hikes, remains a point of contention. Crypto investors feel that the Biden administration’s push to raise capital gains taxes, corporate taxes, and tariffs, ostensibly to support programs like Medicare, has negatively impacted their interests. Harris, in an effort to appeal to a broader base, has proposed a compromise on the estate tax, suggesting a reduction from 39.6% to 28% on high-income assets.
This adjustment, however, has not entirely assuaged crypto investors’ concerns about her alignment with the administration’s economic policies.
Prominent voices within the crypto community, however, continue to rally behind Harris, hoping she could potentially reform the current administration’s stance on digital assets. Ripple’s co-founder and president, Chris Larsen, pledged $10 million in XRP, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, to Harris’ campaign. Although he has expressed concerns over the regulatory measures, Larsen believes Harris might foster a more innovation-friendly approach to American tech leadership, which includes cryptocurrency.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks and a prominent digital asset investor, has also endorsed Harris, expressing optimism that she could advocate for a more constructive regulatory framework for the sector.
Despite these endorsements, the question remains whether Harris can convincingly distance herself from the Biden administration’s strict regulatory stance and attract the considerable crypto voter bloc. Crypto experts argue that this community, estimated to comprise over 50 million users in the United States, could indeed influence the election outcome, particularly in a closely contested race.