The grassroots event is scheduled to take place between the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus conferences, and aims to bring together a diverse group of donors, organizers told Reuters. Tickets for the fundraiser range from $500 to $5,000, said Cleve Mesidor, executive director of the Blockchain Foundation and one of the organizers.
The event’s fundraising goal is small compared with the hundreds of millions Harris has raised since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee in July when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. But it’s the latest sign that at least some in the industry are backing her instead of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has courted big cryptocurrency donors with friendly political promises.
Reuters was first to report the fundraising.
Organizers include Tiffany Smith, co-chair of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Working Group at law firm WilmerHale and Rahilla Zafar, a cryptocurrency founder who has also worked at artificial intelligenceIf elected, Harris is expected to soften her stance on cryptocurrencies after the Securities and Exchange Commission under Biden cracked down on the sector.
The agency says cryptocurrency companies are violating securities laws, although the industry denies those laws apply to them.
Discover the stories that interest you
“Why not use the first fundraiser (and there will be many more) to make a statement about what crypto is for Democrats as a potential new administration considers how to approach this issue?” Mesidor said. He said he hopes the event will facilitate conversations about how a potential Harris administration could encourage cryptocurrency innovation and give more people of color access to capital.
“We wanted to make sure that with the Democratic presidential nominee changing hands, we were supporting her and joining forces to help her understand the importance of this industry,” said WilmerHale’s Smith.
The group is not affiliated with the Harris campaign, which did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
An independent group called Crypto4Harris also emerged this month that plans to organize fundraisers for Harris. The group held a town hall meeting during which billionaire Mark Cuban and Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci spoke in support of Harris.
While Harris has yet to take a public stance on cryptocurrencies, her campaign staff has met with major cryptocurrency companies including Coinbase and Ripple, Reuters previously reported.
Those and other big cryptocurrency companies are donating to pro-cryptocurrency candidates in congressional races in both parties through super political action committees, campaign finance records show, rather than aligning themselves with any of the presidential candidates.
Brian Nelson, a senior adviser to Harris’ campaign, said at an event at the Democratic National Convention this month that Harris would support the growth of emerging technologies, which many in the Crypto industry I saw it as a positive sign.
“[Harris] “He has this golden opportunity to really lay out a plan to influence a lot of these voters in the crypto industry,” Zafar said.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.