Cryptocurrency executives on Thursday reportedly yelled at the anti-crypto Biden-Harris administration during a meeting meant to repair relations between crypto and the White House.
Fox Business reported that the White House held a virtual meeting with cryptocurrency executives on Thursday, which was hosted by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) as the Biden-Harris administration has largely cracked down on the burgeoning industry.
Now, with Kamala Harris as the Democrat nominee, Democrats hope to win back single-issue voters and donors from those who have started flocking to former President Donald Trump.
Fox Business detailed:
Around twenty people were on the call, including top Biden administration officials such as Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Bruce Reed. Kristine Lucius, a senior adviser to Harris, was also present but did not speak, according to three people on the call.
Attendees from the crypto side included billionaire tech entrepreneur and crypto investor Mark Cuban, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, venture capitalist and Democratic donor Ron Conway, and a handful of executives from Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap and other crypto firms.
Instead of mending fences, executives from cryptocurrency companies attacked the Biden-Harris administration for its staunchly anti-crypto actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“Executives didn’t hold back on telling the administration reps how much damage they’ve done to the crypto industry and to the Democrat Party with their actions against digital assets. They basically just got yelled at,” one attendee at the virtual meeting told Fox Business.
Venture capitalist and Democrat donor Ron Conway “aggressively” vented that the administration gave nothing but empty promises. Conway is an early investor in digital currency exchange Coinbase.
Adeyemo claimed that banks and regulators were not actively trying to cut off the crypto industry from the banking system. One crypto executive asked other crypto representatives to raise their hands if their companies have been denied banking services because of Democrat policies; nearly all of the industry representatives raised their hands. Adeyemo would likely get promoted to a future Harris administration if she were elected as president.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Office, said that despite their frustrations with the current administration, Harris could be a more pro-crypto advocate.
Grewal said, “This was a Biden administration meeting, but the focus now has to be on the Harris campaign and what they’re willing to do. She’s the perfect candidate to be a strong new face for crypto and make a break with the past.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a pro-crypto lawmaker, disputed the Harris “pivot” towards crypto, saying that for nearly four years, the Biden-Harris administration “waged an ideological war against U.S. crypto innovation. Taking cues from the Admin, Gary Gensler has denied the industry a basic regulatory framework and assailed firms with groundless enforcement actions.”
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who donated $1 million to Trump each, laughed at the prospect of the Harris pivot towards crypto.
Trump has promised to be the “crypto president” if he were reelected in November.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.