Text: Thomas Carreras, DL News
Translation:Ismay, BlockBeats
Editor's note: On July 22, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential candidate. Bitcoin prices reacted accordingly. Meanwhile, on Polymarket, the probability of Donald Trump winning the 2024 U.S. presidential election dropped to 66%, while Kamala Harris’s odds rose to 32%. Before the actual election arrives, nothing is certain. In this article, the author briefly outlines Harris’s stance on cryptocurrency, which currently shows no clear position either for or against digital assets. This article was originally published on July 4, 2024.
Below is the original text:
On-chain prediction market Polymarket shows that in predictions for the 2024 Democratic nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has risen to a 42% chance of winning, while President Biden’s odds have fallen to 37%.
Although White House spokespersons have denied that Biden is considering stepping down, the likelihood of Biden withdrawing from the race has climbed to 65%. At the same time, in predictions for the overall presidential winner, Vice President Harris’s chances have increased to 16%—trailing behind Trump (61%) but surpassing Biden (12%), placing her second.
Harris’s sudden rise has sparked speculation within the crypto community: What is her stance on cryptocurrency? Has she previously engaged with or expressed views on the crypto space? Below is what we know so far.
After Biden’s poor performance in last week’s debate against Trump, Harris emerged as the preferred Democratic nominee. Her position on cryptocurrency now appears increasingly urgent.
While Biden has vowed to continue his campaign and Harris has not officially declared her candidacy for the 47th U.S. presidency, Polymarket data indicates her odds of winning the presidency have risen to 16%—still trailing Trump (61%) but ahead of Biden (12%), making her the second-most likely candidate.
Meanwhile, a meme coin themed around Harris, named "Kamala Horris," has suddenly appeared. According to CoinGecko data, the token surged approximately 600% over the past week and skyrocketed over 1,500% in the past 30 days.
Given that the crypto industry has become a major topic in this year’s election and Harris’s unexpected momentum, her stance on cryptocurrency seems particularly significant.
The Biden administration has maintained a consistently hostile posture toward the crypto industry, but Harris’s position remains more elusive.
Harris has never taken an official stance on cryptocurrency nor made public comments about the industry.
Financial disclosures show that neither Harris nor her husband, Douglas Emhoff, hold any cryptocurrency investments. Instead, they appear to favor U.S. Treasury securities and emerging market funds.
Notably, during the 2020 election campaign, Harris hired Ryan Montoya, former chief technology officer of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, as her scheduling director.
According to Montoya’s LinkedIn profile, under his leadership, the Sacramento Kings became the first professional sports team in the world to accept bitcoin. The team also mined ether and launched an NFT collection.
Montoya now serves as a presidential assistant at the White House but continues primarily with scheduling duties. Therefore, he is unlikely to influence policy decisions.
However, a 2020 New York Times report noted that Harris, hailing from San Francisco, maintains close ties with the tech industry. When she was nominated as vice president, it was seen by many as “good news” for Silicon Valley.
As crypto lobbying intensifies and Wall Street banks increasingly represent the sector, Harris might have “reasons” to come out in support of Bitcoin before launching a presidential campaign. Of course, she could also adopt the same stance as Biden and pursue a restrictive policy toward cryptocurrencies.
@DLNewsInfo
