Bitcoin wasn’t a big topic at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this week. None of the event’s speakers uttered a word about the electronic cash system or other crypto assets from the event’s main stage at the United Center in Chicago. And you’d be hard-pressed to hear a conversation about Bitcoin or crypto anywhere in the halls of the arena.
But despite the fact that the Democrats have chosen not to include Bitcoin or crypto in their official platformseveral senior Democrats said this week that a Harris administration would be more pro-Bitcoin and pro-crypto than the Biden administration has been — but without providing specifics. Several Democrats also spoke passionately at satellite events for the conference about why their party should embrace Bitcoin and crypto.
Congressman Wiley Nickel (D-NC), a proponent of Bitcoin and cryptospoke about the idea that a Harris administration will take a different approach to the crypto industry than the Biden administration.
“Vice President Harris has worked for and as part of the Biden-Harris administration, but now she is coming into this campaign with her own positions on issues,” Rep. Nickel told Bitcoin Magazine in an interview at the convention.
“A lot has happened in the last few weeks, so she’s just starting to take policy positions. It’s not going to be that she’s going to come out with things that she would do differently than President Biden right away, but she’s going to take different positions on issues and she’s going to make those positions known,” he added.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Vice President Harris will introduce policies to support the crypto industry if elected, according to her senior campaign policy adviser, who spoke during a Bloomberg News roundtable at the convention.
The article discussed how Harris plans to deal with the cryptocurrency industry, but again did not provide details on how she plans to do so. It also quoted Harris as saying that she plans to “reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and regulatory red tape” while encouraging “innovative technologies” by providing “transparent rules of the game,” though none of Harris’ quotes in the piece contained direct references to Bitcoin or crypto.
Rep. Nickel also did not provide details on what Harris’s policy might look like, saying he did not want to speak for Harris, but he did note the success of the Crypto4Harris City Hallan event held on Wednesday, August 15, featuring Democratic lawmakers including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), as well as billionaire and crypto enthusiast Mark Cuban, who shared that there is “a real sense of momentum among Democrats on the issue.”
Rep. Nickel also asked Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts to heed a certain warning.
“The anti-crypto monikers you hear are simply made up by people who want to damage her campaign,” Rep. Nickel said of rumors from Harris who brought along people like Brian Reese and Bharat Ramamurti, economic advisers to the Biden administration who were behind Operation Chokepoint 2.0back in the fold.
“I don’t believe in the strange names you hear thrown around for big jobs. I heard Gary Gensler for Treasury Secretary. I can tell you there is 0% chance he would be confirmed by the Senate,” he added.
“That’s not happening.”
Pro-Bitcoin/Pro-Crypto Democrats Speak at Satellite Events
During an event held in a University of Chicago building, Cleave MesidorExecutive Director of the Blockchain Foundation and former Obama appointee who served as director of public affairs at Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), spoke on a panel titled “Democrats’ Path Forward On Digital Assets & Crypto.”
TODAY: I’m speaking in Chicago at the DNC convention!
I am excited to be part of this panel hosted by @ProgressChamber & @BusinessForwardwhich also contains the following:@RepWileyNickel | @clydevanel | @JBSDC @paradigm| @KyleBligen
= Democrats’ Path Forward on Digital Assets and Crypto = photo.twitter.com/WIYggp1V9o
— Cleve Mesidor (@cmesi) August 21, 2024
Mesidor shared her perspective on the importance of crypto, which differed markedly from the perspectives of notoriously anti-crypto Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) And Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA).
“Senator Liz Warren and Congressman Brad Sherman are stuck in time,” Mesidor said on the panel.
“They are so determined to fight the big money, so laser-focused on hitting the big guys, that their blind spot is the fact that communities of color are the largest adopters of cryptocurrency. Black and Latino communities are leading the national adoption of this $2 trillion market,” she added.
“Let’s be clear, consumer protection is important — we need guardrails. But if you don’t tie it to financial inclusion, you’re just saying to all the communities that have benefited from bitcoin over the last 15 years — that have made something of it, that have built products and services on blockchain — that you’re going to continue to (support) policies to make sure that they can no longer participate.”
Mesidor, a Latina herself, was emotional as she spoke, saying she believes Democrats are missing one of the most important stories about Bitcoin and crypto, while acknowledging why they may be hesitant to look positively at the crypto industry.
“Democrats have PTSD,” she told me in an interview after the panel.
“(They have) PTSD because decades ago, the predatory lenders, as we call them now, came to them and said we’re going to democratize finance. The internet is supposed to democratize us, right? It’s supposed to be decentralized. And today, big tech is not diverse,” she added.
Clyde Vanel (D), a New York Assemblyman and member of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, was also on the panel.
Vanel remembers first encountering cryptocurrency in the mid-2010s and being impressed by the way it was increasing the financial literacy of inner-city youth.
“I went to several high schools and there were high school students (who owned crypto) who were flexing the same muscles as seasoned investors, who were watching the markets,” Vanel said.
“We had a convenience store in my neighborhood (with a) Bitcoin ATM. I went to the convenience store and saw a line of kids buying different denominations of Bitcoin — awesome,” he added.
Vanel was happy that his constituents were buying bitcoins not only because of the financial benefits they could gain from investing in them, but also because blockchain technology offers people in his community an alternative to the traditional financial system, which some — including his own father — do not trust.
“My father never went to a bank, never trusted a bank,” Vanel said. “He went to places where he could cash checks.”
Vanel also discussed the use of Bitcoin and crypto as a payment method for money transfers.
“When he sent money to another country, he spent a lot of money on it,” Vanel said, still speaking of his father. “What does it mean to make sure that we make it easier for people like him to transfer value?”
Because Vanel understands the benefits of Bitcoin and crypto, he is happy that Democrats are increasingly realizing this.
“I am very excited that this event is happening right after this campaign to show the importance of financial inclusion (through) digital technology,” said Vanel. “10 years ago, this would not have happened at the National Convention.”
Not far from the event where Mesidor and Vanel spoke, an event was held entitled CryptoDNC took place, featuring performances by Reps. Bill Foster (D-IL) and the aforementioned Wiley Nickel.
🎉 Announcing a new speaker!
We are happy that we @RepBillFoster as one of the speakers at our event next Wednesday in Chicago during the 2024 @DemConvention
Register now to secure your spot!
Register: https://t.co/mJzVzchfx2
Or sign up below 👇👇 photo.twitter.com/V9lnPlgmox
— CryptoDNC (@crypto_dnc) August 16, 2024
During a friendly chat at the event, Rep. Nickel said that not embracing crypto technology would be like not embracing the internet two and a half decades ago.
Are the Democrats serious?
Have Democrats really changed their minds about Bitcoin and crypto, or are they just playing to voters who want only one thing, and who would otherwise vote for Trump because of his pro-crypto stance?
This is the question that seems to be on the minds of most Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts. Part of the reason many are hesitant to trust the Democrats’ proposed 180 on crypto may be due to the Biden administration’s support for SEC Chairman Gary Gensler regulation through enforcement approach to the crypto industry over the past three and a half years.
Rep. Wiley Nickel appears to be making a serious effort to get Democrats to “reset” their approach to crypto, but is Harris really listening? And can people like Assemblyman Vanel and Ms. Meridor make their pro-crypto voices heard loud enough to grab the attention of a potential Harris administration?
We’ll have to wait and see about that.