White House officials participated in a conference call with about a dozen cryptocurrency leaders on Thursday morning in the Biden administration’s latest outreach to the industry.
Also on the call were White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard, along with Christine Lucius, senior adviser and legislative director for Vice President Harris, according to people familiar with the matter.
The call, hosted by pro-crypto Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, came as the White House and Democrats seek to repair ties with the crypto industry amid continuing frosty relations.
Khanna hosted a roundtable discussion last month with industry executives and Democratic lawmakers, including a personal appearance by Anita Dunn, then a senior adviser to President Biden.
Following Biden’s decision to step down and the vice president becoming the Democratic nominee, Dunn has left the White House and is working for a super PAC supporting Harris’ campaign.
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, said administration officials on Thursday’s call understood the industry’s frustrations and seemed eager to find a solution, but they made no commitments, he said.
“I applaud [Khanna] “I appreciate you working bravely to keep people talking to each other and encouraging Democratic support for basic cryptocurrency legislation and basic cryptocurrency standards so that we don’t cede this to Republicans or get more partisan than we need to,” Grewal told The Hill.
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have increasingly embraced cryptocurrencies: The GOP included it in its platform released ahead of the Republican National Convention last month, and Trump gave a keynote speech at a conference on Bitcoin in late July.
“I have a plan to make the United States the cryptocurrency capital of the planet and the global Bitcoin superpower,” President Trump said at Bitcoin 2024.
But as Harris’ campaign got underway, her team began negotiating with the cryptocurrency industry.
“Today’s conversation, in many ways, was really in contrast to other conversations the industry has had with the Harris campaign about how she will break away from past policies and show that she understands not only the crypto industry, but the 52 million Americans who own cryptocurrency,” Grewal said.
White House press secretary Robin Paterson said in a statement on Thursday that the president was launching “the first comprehensive approach to support innovation in digital assets.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to meet with a wide range of stakeholders and work with members of Congress on legislation to develop the safeguards necessary to harness the potential benefits and opportunities of cryptocurrency innovation,” Patterson added.
