‘Crypto For Harris’ town hall fails to sell industry on proposed ‘reset’

If the goal of Wednesday evening’s effort by the ‘Crypto For Harris’ campaign was to convince a skeptical digital asset industry that a Kamala Harris presidency is something it should support, it did little to move the needle.

That’s my read after listening to scores of crypto enthusiasts who tuned into the nearly 90-minute virtual town hall that featured a who’s who of Democratic lawmakers including the party’s head honcho, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), California Congressman Adam Schiff, and even a very brief appearance from tech billionaire Mark Cuban.

Out of more than one hundred responses to my X post asking for feedback from viewers who listened in to the call, the overwhelming majority of respondents were neither impressed nor convinced that Harris will play ball on the so-called “crypto reset” Democratic politicians and industry leaders are encouraging her to embrace. This is mainly because Harris herself has yet to reveal publicly how she feels about crypto. 

One big problem with the event was not who showed up, but who didn’t. Noticeably absent from the event: Harris herself or any members of her campaign staff, something that was quickly pointed out by viewers who had been eager to learn more about the VP’s would-be crypto policy, including whether she would back off the regulatory onslaught she has tacitly endorsed as Joe Biden’s vice president, or (as industry leaders have called for) replace the administration’s chief crypto antagonist, Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler.

Hot takes on the virtual confab seemed to suggest that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has scored a coup with the $2 trillion crypto industry by reaching out early in the campaign, promising a lighter regulatory touch and the removal of Gensler. 

Nonetheless, the live stream that, according to organizers, boasted over 1,000 live viewers wasn’t all bad for Harris and the Dems. In fact, parts of it were well received, while others were criticized. Let’s go through the good, the bad and the ugly takes, starting with the good ones:

Chuck Schumer, one of the Democrat Party’s top leaders and influential voices, seems to be a crypto convert. In a prepared speech, Schumer declared his intention to get sensible crypto legislation passed through the Senate and into law before the end of the year, declaring that crypto is “here to stay no matter what.”

“I think we should strike a balance for crypto between promoting innovation and providing common sense guard rails,” he said. “We cannot afford to continue to sit on the sidelines, because then we risk crypto going overseas to the lowest common denominator countries where there will be no regulation at all, and if we get nothing done, extremists win.”

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 11: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters following a classified all-Senate briefing on Artificial Intelligence at the U.S. Capitol on July 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. Briefers included members from the (Drew Angerer/Getty Images / Getty Images)

He opined on the importance of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle working together to advance the nascent crypto and AI industries, even throwing shade at his Congressional colleagues (some viewers guessed it was directed at the powerful crypto skeptic Massachusetts Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren) for building their political brands around “creating spectacle and sensationalism” instead of passing legislation.

Schumer was introduced on the call by Mark Cuban, who used his brief one-minute appearance to criticize Republicans’ intentions surrounding crypto, saying the party “couldn’t care less” about it and just wants to “see the bitcoin maxis get richer.”

Definitely not a bad thing for crypto to get Chuck Schumer on its side and I give him credit for showing up.

Other fans of the event described the proceedings to me as having “great energy”, “reclaiming the optimistic side of techno-optimism” and “giving hope for the future of making crypto a non-partisan issue.”

The organizing team, which was represented on the call by four industry members, also seemed happy with the outcome but conceded the event was just a first step on the way to making some progress.

“The organizing team was incredibly proud of the broader coalition of industry leaders and elected officials who came together last night,” said ‘Crypto For Harris’ organizer Jonathan Padilla. “That being said, Crypto For Harris is just getting started and addressing the criticism from some members of the crypto community head on, we need to work to get more action and more tangible progress.”

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at San Francisco International Airport on August 11, 2024,in San Francisco, California, as she returns to Washington, DC.  (JULIA NIKHINSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

What seemed to be the most obvious “bad” part of the call, according to viewers, was the lack of insight into how Harris herself views digital assets or how exactly she plans to fix relations with an industry that feels attacked by the administration she’s a part of. As I mentioned earlier, Harris has yet to say anything publicly about digital assets.

“I was hoping to hear about Harris’s crypto policy and for the Democrats to address how they’re going to fix the issue of crypto firms being de-banked,” Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long said. “I’m still waiting to hear.” 

“I still don’t know who Kamala Harris is and what she thinks about our industry,” another viewer said.

Others were disappointed with the format of the event. 

“I thought a town hall was for hearing people’s opinion, you know, people in the town,” said Jake Brukhman, founder and CEO of crypto investment firm CoinFund. “Instead we got a few lectures of the participants’ views of crypto and where it should go politically.”

Still others were disappointed that lawmakers did not address the hostile treatment the industry has faced under Gensler and the SEC, dubbing it the ‘elephant in the room’ that was not addressed. Further gripes were made about the pre-recorded video messages sent in by Gillibrand, Schiff and others, which some viewers said “diminished” the event and made the pitch to voters seem less genuine.

The “ugly” part was best articulated by Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

“Pre-recorded videos. Reading from scripts. Harris a no-show at her own event. What a clown show,” Tyler Winklevoss tweeted, while his brother noted that some scheduled guest speakers didn’t even show up.

Entrepeneurs Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss arrive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala (Met Gala) to celebrate the opening of “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” in the Manhattan borough of New York, May 2, 2016.  (Reuters/Lucas Jackson / Reuters Photos)

The Winklevoss twins, whose Gemini crypto exchange has been a victim of Gensler’s regulatory crackdown, have declared their support for GOP nominee Donald Trump, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be changing their minds any time soon.

More ugly: Former Messari CEO Ryan Selkis slammed the event as “pathetic” and followed up by saying “there wasn’t a single speaker of substance in that hour-long slopfest.”

Yikes.

The upshot: Many viewers said they will remain skeptical of the Democrats’ assurances that Harris will do a “reset” with the crypto industry until they see evidence. The town hall, despite its positives, ultimately provided little of that. 

“The key will be Harris has to articulate her position and actions she will take on this issue, said Austin Campbell, founder of crypto consulting firm Zero Knowledge. “If we can’t get a clear statement, the null hypothesis is more SEC disasters and [Operation Chokepoint] 2.0, sadly.”

Harris is set to lay out some of her long-term economic plan during a campaign speech on Friday.