After delivering a friendly message, will the Harris era become a new dawn for the cryptocurrency industry?

Original Title: Crypto could get boost from younger, tech-savvy Harris administration

Author: Andrew Singer

Translation by: BitpushNews an

The campaign of current U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris has sent several signals indicating that her administration would be favorable to the cryptocurrency industry.

As Harris continues to rise in the polls, industry observers are beginning to ask more questions.

Will Harris's presidency include younger, more open-minded advisors and political appointees who embrace cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, unlike the old guard represented by Biden, Yellen, and Gensler?

Will it support fair and balanced cryptocurrency reform legislation?

Will it serve cryptocurrency users and innovators better than the Republicans—despite Donald Trump claiming he wants to be the "crypto president" and promising to remove SEC Chair Gary Gensler (an adversary of cryptocurrency) on his "first day" in office?

Elsewhere, an online town hall event called "Harris Supports Cryptocurrency" is scheduled for Wednesday evening, featuring figures like Mark Cuban and Anthony Scaramucci, who are "determined not to let former President Trump win easily in this fall's cryptocurrency vote," according to Fox Business.

In the past week, even prediction markets have begun to lean toward supporting the Democratic candidate.

Harris and Walz as "Pragmatists"

It is still too early to draw any definitive conclusions about what a Harris administration might mean for U.S. cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, but the backgrounds, political leanings, ages, and chosen campaign advisors of Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, provide some clues.

Harris and Walz are both "pragmatists," said Mo Vela, a former advisor to President Joe Biden, to Cointelegraph. "They build consensus and are able to cross party lines," he added. Most believe that bipartisan cooperation is crucial for passing cryptocurrency reform legislation.

"We need that kind of balanced perspective"—as opposed to the sometimes adversarial views brought by the Biden administration, he added.

Moreover, both candidates are younger. Vela expects a "fresh perspective on cryptocurrency."

Harris grew up in Northern California, not far from Silicon Valley. "She has a wealth of experience with technology."

Vela believes that Harris and Walz share a "more modern, more relevant perspective, almost an Obama-style." He is now a senior advisor to the asset-backed cryptocurrency Unicoin.

Boris Boehl-Bilovitski, CEO of Concordium, told Cointelegraph: "I am optimistic about Kamala Harris's presidency; she will support cryptocurrency." He added:

"She is already engaging with the right people, like David Plouffe, a former advisor to Binance. Her connections with Silicon Valley are also very strong."

Not only did they bring in Plouffe, but also former Ripple Labs board member Gene Sperling. "They are cryptocurrency experts," Vela said. "That says a lot."

Harris and Walz are nearly twenty years younger than Trump. "The cryptocurrency user base tends to be younger," Vela noted. They are often more "fashionable" and open when it comes to financial innovation.

Don't Expect "Miracles" to Happen

What specific initiatives can we expect from a Harris-Walz administration?

"Past performance is not indicative of future results in financial markets or policies," said Jack Soloway, a fintech policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, to Cointelegraph. He added:

"That said, improvement is a low bar compared to the Biden-Harris administration."

Soloway also hopes to see "a firm public statement from the Harris-Walz campaign regarding their stance on cryptocurrency policy, which has been lacking so far."

Vela believes that balanced and fair cryptocurrency reform legislation can be achieved during a Harris presidency, but the industry itself must also do its part.

Vela stated that the cryptocurrency industry has taken a "chaotic approach" to regulatory reform. For example, there are multiple blockchain associations. Companies like Coinbase are also "doing their own thing" in lobbying and regulation. "As an industry, we should unite."

So should Harris remove SEC Chair Gensler on her "first day" in office?

This remedy may sound appealing, but Vela responded, "But that's not the case."

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent government agency, and "the president does not have the power to remove the SEC chair without cause," as Tonya Evans recently wrote in Fortune. This may ultimately be managed, but it is not easy, and certainly won't be accomplished on the "first day."

There is no doubt that Gensler has stirred strong emotions within the cryptocurrency community. "The reality is that Gensler has politicized the agency, which is a big problem," said Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Innovation Council.

Nevertheless, even under a future Democratic administration, the SEC chair may not survive, "because the reality, and what I think people in the cryptocurrency space overlook, is that Gary Gensler is not popular among a broad range of industry participants, not just in the cryptocurrency space," Warren added.

Divisions Within the Party?

Complicating matters is the fact that "there are divisions within the Democratic Party on cryptocurrency issues," said Miriam K. Carliner, chair and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Economic Studies program, to Cointelegraph. "On one hand, there is a significant portion of elected officials who are deeply skeptical, while many Democratic voters own and support cryptocurrency."

Klein pointed out that Republican presidential candidates have seized on this, adding:

"Although Trump did very little to support the industry during his presidency, he is even campaigning with a pro-cryptocurrency image."

Perhaps the best way for Harris as a candidate to handle cryptocurrency issues will be to "take a middle ground, providing enough for cryptocurrency supporters to distinguish her from the Biden administration while retaining enough ambiguity to define her administration after the election," Klein said.

Trump could very well become disappointed with cryptocurrency at some point. Klein recalled that in 2016, Trump campaigned on "restoring strict regulations on banks with the Glass-Steagall Act," but once in office, he relaxed regulations on banks.

Three Pillars of Effective Regulation

Despite this, there are still many unknowns, and Soloway is waiting for "a clear public statement of principles from the Harris-Walz campaign regarding cryptocurrency and decentralized finance, let alone their stance on the regulatory agenda or legislation related to cryptocurrency." He said that perhaps things will change in the coming days and weeks. If the new Harris administration truly has a chance to pass federal cryptocurrency reform legislation, it needs to proceed with caution.

"The Democrats tend to over-regulate," Vela commented, who is a former CFO, managing director, and senior advisor to Vice Presidents Gore and Biden, responsible for Latino and LGBT policy.

He added that effective regulation relies on three pillars: it must promote innovation and growth, support businesses and consumers, and eliminate bad actors.

"If done right, none of these will harm our industry," Vela concluded.