Kamala Harris accepts donations in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies - or not?
Last night, Fortune Magazine published an article revealing that Kamala Harris would now also accept campaign donations in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. The medium referred to Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas, who announced this at a Citigroup event in New York on Wednesday.
She is accepting crypto donations. She’s using Coinbase Commerce now to accept crypto for her own campaign.
Alesia Haas, CFO of Coinbase
Unlike Donald Trump, who has been accepting campaign donations in Bitcoin and Co. since May, there was neither an announcement from Harris nor any information to this effect on her fundraising website. The lobby group "Crypto for Harris" also emphasized to Fortune that it knew nothing about this.
Is the Democratic presidential candidate and current vice president actually accepting crypto donations?
Election campaign donations in Bitcoin and Co.
Specifically, it is not Kamala Harris herself, but the important campaign support group (Super PAC) called "Future Forward" - Coinbase CFO Haas' statement was somewhat misleading, as it later turned out.
Future Forward is a political action committee (PAC) founded in 2018 that is closely linked to Harris' campaign and plays a central role in the US presidential election campaign. The super PAC has already raised several hundred million US dollars to support the Democratic candidate.
Fortune Magazine initially ran the headline "Coinbase CFO says Kamala Harris is using firm to accept crypto donations", but changed the headline to "Coinbase CFO reveals Kamala Harris Super PAC will accept crypto donations" after a spokesperson from the major crypto exchange spoke out. The spokesperson clarified that Future Forward had gone through the onboarding process at Coinbase Commerce.
Coinbase can confirm that Future Forward has onboarded with Coinbase Commerce.
Coinbase spokesperson
While it is not the campaign of Kamala Harris herself that is accepting crypto donations, this marks another milestone in the adoption of Bitcoin at the political level. Harris' opponent, Donald Trump, has been allowing his supporters to donate cryptocurrencies to him since May. This made the Republican the first leading candidate to take this step - Blocktrainer.de reported.
In June, there were also reports that the campaign team of President Biden, who has since withdrawn his candidacy, was making efforts to accept donations in Bitcoin and the like - Blocktrainer.de reported. However, the incumbent US president never followed his opponent's example. Interestingly, Biden emphasized during the last presidential election that he would never ask for Bitcoin to be sent to him.
I don't have Bitcoin, and I'll never ask you to send me any.
Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 16, 2020
But if you want to chip in to help make Donald Trump a one-term President, you can do that here: https://t.co/8XtBjuU5fX-
It can be quite lucrative for a politician to accept donations in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. This is shown by the fact that Trump was able to raise an additional 3 million US dollars through digital currencies in the second quarter alone.
However, there are also critical voices that emphasize that politicians should rather back the national currency than support its competitors - especially in times when the US dollar is losing confidence. For example, Vitaliy Katsenelson, CEO of an investment firm, in his article for the Financial Times - Blocktrainer.de reported.
In such an environment, the US president and presidential candidates should be the dollar’s biggest salespeople rather than supporting an alternative. The bitcoin story should not be promoted — it should not even be accepted as a form of donation to candidates for the position of US president.
Vitaliy Katsenelson in the Financial Times article
Harris position on Bitcoin still unclear
Kamala Harris herself has not yet taken a public stance on cryptocurrencies. Quite the opposite of her rival Donald Trump, who has announced that he will support the sector and even establish a Bitcoin reserve for the USA. Nevertheless, efforts are being made by the Democrats to win over the ever-growing community behind digital assets for Harris.
When asked about Harris' efforts regarding the crypto community, a senior campaign advisor to the Democratic presidential candidate replied a few weeks ago that they will support policies that ensure that new technologies and this type of industry can continue to grow - Blocktrainer.de reported. In addition, according to several reports, her campaign team is consulting with industry representatives in the background to obtain advice.
The crypto sector has become a key donor in this presidential campaign. Crypto companies - led by Coinbase and Ripple - have already donated hundreds of millions of euros. This puts them on a par with contributions from other companies. The funds from companies in the crypto sector go to Democrats and Republicans in roughly equal measure via super PACs.
According to the betting markets, Donald Trump is currently slightly ahead of Harris again. This appears to be primarily due to the Democrat's controversial economic plans. It will be interesting to see who is elected to the White House by US citizens in November. It will also be interesting to see what role Bitcoin and co. will play in the hot phase of the election campaign.