Editorial: We Applaud Trump’s Crypto Efforts Though His Record, Rhetoric Raise Red Flags

If CoinDesk were in the business of endorsing political candidates and if crypto were the only issue that mattered, it's pretty clear whom we would back to become the next U.S. president.

After all, former President Donald Trump has spoken at a prominent Bitcoin conference, drawn wild applause for his promise to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler (who is loathed by many in the industry) and pledged to get the U.S. government to hoard bitcoin (BTC). Heck, he even bought burgers with the cryptocurrency at a New York City pub last month.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is part of a presidential administration that, at best, is content with giving crypto no help at all and, at worst, is openly hostile to this sector. She has shared far less of her own views on digital assets than Trump.

So, even though we don't endorse candidates, we do endorse Trump's crypto platform, such as it is. We phrase it that way because political platforms typically are far more detailed and comprehensive than what Trump has put forth. What we at CoinDesk really like is Trump's unabashed support for the industry while his opponent so far is keeping her views almost completely to herself – although earlier this week her campaign said a little more about digital assets. (CoinDesk reporters have reached out to the Harris campaign several times requesting details of her crypto views.)

CoinDesk doesn't endorse candidates because voters have a number of other issues that remain top-of-mind as they look at the 2024 race. Indeed, even though CoinDesk views Trump's support of crypto to be positive for the industry, we are troubled by his racist remarks directed toward groups including immigrants and his increasingly authoritarian rhetoric – both of which are the antithesis of a crypto movement focused on decentralizing authority and empowering individuals.

A September report by Pew Research Center lists the economy, health care, Supreme Court appointments, foreign policy and violent crime as the top five issues among voters. Immigration, gun policy, abortion, inequality and climate change round out the list. Supporters leaning toward Trump or Harris have different priorities within that list, and digital assets don't make it to Pew or other major surveys.

Crypto companies have commissioned their own polls, finding that, to some extent, voters do want their presidential candidates to be informed about crypto and other tech issues (that's among likely voters); that voters who own crypto are more likely to vote for Trump (among registered voters); and that roughly one in five voters in swing states think crypto policies may sway their votes – though that group is divided on whether they want to see pro- or anti-crypto policy proposals.

The crypto industry has also sunk an immense amount of money and energy into swaying voters and races this cycle.

While crypto is not a top five issue with voters, that it's in the conversation at all is remarkable. Two years ago, it was probably a safe bet that cryptocurrencies were not poised to play a role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Today, both major parties' nominees have mentioned the industry on the campaign trail – especially Trump.

In short, this is the year that crypto has broken out as an election issue; candidates at multiple levels are mentioning the topic as they run for office, ranging from the presidential contest to candidates for the House of Representatives and Senate.

And that is due in no small part to Trump. We at CoinDesk applaud the former president for taking this niche issue and industry seriously and treating its supporters like a legitimate voting bloc – something no major-party presidential candidate had previously done. He has people talking about crypto, including, perhaps most surprisingly, his opponent, Harris, who serves in the not-so-crypto-friendly Biden White House.

However, Trump's driving the crypto conversation is not without controversy and makes our enthusiasm for his platform not without reservation. His track record on digital assets was less than stellar during his presidency, and some of his actions around the space raise conflict-of-interest concerns – inadvertently reinforcing the image of crypto as a shifty industry.

Harris, on the other hand, has only broached the topic of crypto on the most superficial level – mostly using the fuzzier term "digital assets" instead of the dreaded c-word – and it's unclear if she'll delve more deeply into the topic ahead of the Nov. 5 election. There just isn't enough information from her campaign to suggest how she may actually behave toward crypto as president.

Here's our evaluation of what each of the major candidates have said about crypto, as well as what their personnel choices may suggest.

Donald Trump

Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has made a strong appeal to the cryptocurrency industry in recent months, appearing at a big industry event and promising to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world." Prior to raising crypto as a campaign issue, he issued multiple waves of his own non-fungible tokens (NFTs), stretching back to 2022. Filings show Trump holds more than $1 million of Ethereum's ether (ETH) while his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, disclosed in 2022 that he held between $100,000 and $250,000 of bitcoin.

Trump's current pro-crypto stance contrasts with his decidedly not-so-friendly positions taken while president from 2017 to 2021. His public position back then was that he was "not a fan" of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, according to a series of tweets posted shortly after Facebook (now Meta) unveiled the Libra (later Diem) project in 2019.

His Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, infamously tried to create a rule requiring crypto exchanges to collect know-your-customer information from the owners of unhosted (or self-hosted) wallets before they could facilitate transfers to these wallets. Then-SEC Chair Jay Clayton also oversaw the introduction of what has since become a controversial special-purpose broker-dealer framework for companies hoping to offer crypto asset services.

In the years since, Trump has turned around on cryptocurrencies, but it was only this year that he really began to make it a campaign issue. In May, he said, "I guess you could say [crypto is] a form of currency, and I think I'm for that," during a gala hosted at Mar-a-Lago for holders of his NFTs. In the months since, he has gone further, telling the audience at Bitcoin Nashville in July that, if elected, he would move to replace SEC Chair Gensler, create a crypto advisory council and "defend the right to self-custody." He's also signed onto a plan to have the U.S. create a "strategic national stockpile" of bitcoin.

"I will cut unnecessary burdens of regulations," he said. "Fight every day to make America the best place on Earth to build a business, including a crypto business. It's going to be the best place. You're not going to have to go to China. You're not going to have to learn, gee, how do I learn Chinese?"

His rhetoric suggests he's still evolving on crypto; while in May he said central bank digital currencies – digital versions of conventional currencies like the U.S. dollar – had their place, in July he said he would halt any work by the Treasury Department toward introducing a CBDC.

His appeal is more than just offhand statements; he's folded crypto mentions into talks at events unrelated to crypto and last month stopped at Pubkey, a Bitcoin-themed bar in New York City, and bought burgers using BTC. He even promised to commute the sentence of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. Trump's family is involved with a decentralized finance crypto investment project called World Liberty Financial.

That DeFi project's "gold paper" says it aims to help people secure loans while bypassing the traditional banking system. The project, which is based on a decentralized borrowing service that was hacked this year, started selling its token, called WLFI, on Tuesday. The Trump family might benefit financially from World Liberty Financial. A disclaimer on its website notes, "DT Marks DEFI, LLC and its affiliates including Donald J. Trump and his family members has or may receive tokens from World Liberty Financial, and will be entitled to receive significant fees for services provided to World Liberty Financial, which amount cannot yet be determined."

Then there are Trump's NFT efforts, starting in December 2022, in which users bought tokens with restrictions normal NFT collections don't have, such as lockup periods, though other collections let users attend events with Trump or purchase parts of a suit he wore when he was indicted. Some observers also view Trump's pledge to commute Ulbricht's sentence as an exercise in pandering because he didn't do so when he had a chance during his previous term in office. They also note that Ulbricht's Silk Road platform was linked by prosecutors to at least six deaths due to drug overdoses.

Kamala Harris

Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris has not weighed in on crypto to any real extent. She's used the phrases "cryptocurrency," "digital asset" and "blockchain" in different speeches and policy documents, without sharing specifics about how she might support this industry. She called for a regulatory framework to protect investors in one document that also acknowledged crypto as a "new technology" that can "broaden access" to financial services. Harris has drawn criticism from some in crypto for appointing as an adviser Brian Nelson, who oversaw a U.S. Treasury Department proposal that arguably could block crypto mixing services (though he said that wasn't the goal). However, Nelson has recently signaled openness toward the industry, saying Harris would "support policies that ensure that emerging technologies … can continue to grow."

In her statements, Harris tends to lump cryptocurrency together with artificial intelligence (AI) and other relatively new digital technologies, rather than treating it as its own niche.

To some extent, this isn't a surprise. She's just 12 weeks into her campaign, and there are only three weeks left before voters choose who they want running the country for the next four years. And she's still serving as VP to President Joe Biden, whose administration has been accused of blocking banks from providing services to crypto companies and whose SEC chair has been accused of taking an actively hostile stance against the industry.

Her unusually short campaign means Harris is unlikely to delve deeper into crypto policy before Election Day, CoinDesk's Jesse Hamilton reported last month. Officials with her campaign have kept in touch with crypto industry executives, including representatives from Ripple Labs and Coinbase (two companies behind the massive Fairshake PAC that's already scored wins amid its mission to get crypto-friendly politicians elected), with Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal saying "the progress is real."

"Their understanding of what the industry and crypto investors alike need from a Harris administration, should one come to pass, is growing in sophistication and depth," he said of her campaign, but specific policy may "take a little bit longer than any of us might like."

In a policy document, the Harris-Walz campaign said the candidates would support emerging technologies, including AI and data centers, among others.

"Vice President Harris and Governor [Tim] Walz will sharpen America's edge in sectors that are critical for our economic and national security. … Their strategy includes both investing in emerging technologies and modernizing traditional industries. It will also encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors."

The language in this document echoes statements Harris made at a private fundraiser and a public campaign speech.

During the campaign speech, at a rally in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25, Harris said the U.S. would, under her presidency, invest in blockchain and other technologies.

"I will recommit the nation to global leadership in the sectors that will define the next century. We will invest in biomanufacturing and aerospace, remain dominant in AI and quantum computing, blockchain and other emerging technologies," Harris said.

Similarly, Harris said at a fundraising event in New York on Sept. 22 that, "We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets, while protecting our consumers and investors."

At the start of this week, Harris' campaign published a document outlining the vice president's "Opportunity Agenda" for Black men, an attempt to shore up support among a group more likely to own crypto than others. While Harris did not broach the topic of crypto when she spoke that evening, the document marks the highest-profile instance yet of her campaign including crypto as an issue voters may care about.

"Vice President Harris appreciates the ways in which new technologies can broaden access to banking and financial services. She will make sure owners of and investors in digital assets benefit from a regulatory framework so that Black men and others who participate in this market are protected," according to the plan.

Trump and Harris on crypto-adjacent issues

Crypto-specific policies aside, it's worth checking in on how the candidates view crypto-adjacent issues, including other technology issues (such as encryption and digital privacy) and the economy.

Harris, hailing from the state of California, has long enjoyed support from major names in the technology industry including former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, while Trump has secured backing from a number of tech and venture capital leaders such as David Sacks, Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen (though, notably, his business partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Ben Horowitz, recently donated to Harris, after previously endorsing Trump).

Trump's former Attorney General William Barr criticized the idea of end-to-end encryption – cryptography and privacy are pillars of the cryptocurrency community – while in office, though, as mentioned above, Trump has shown he can change his mind. Harris, while California's attorney general, launched a "Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit" geared toward enforcing privacy laws in the state, with Harris pointing to data storage and retention. There are no recent hints about what Trump and Harris think of encryption today.

Harris and Trump have both shared proposals for bolstering the economy. Harris wants to raise the corporate tax rate while creating incentives for building housing and supporting homebuyers, according to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. She's also endorsed taxing unrealized gains on individuals with a net worth north of $100 million, which would hurt investors of all stripes, including crypto holders.

Trump has mentioned reducing the corporate tax rate and extending tax brackets from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, according to Wharton.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group, noted that "neither major candidate … has put forward a plan to address [the U.S.'s] rising debt burden," and that both candidates' plans would increase the federal deficit. Trump's plan would increase the national debt by $7.5 trillion, while Harris' would increase it by $3.5 trillion through 2035, the organization said in a report published earlier this month.

Weighing Trump's promises and intentions

Trump deserves full marks for taking this niche issue and putting it in a prominent spot on the campaign trail. Biden's administration has won itself no allies in this industry, leaving an opening for the first candidate to promise a more bespoke regulatory approach, which Trump jumped at. Our endorsement of Trump's platform is based on his vocal support of the industry and hopes that should he win, he will follow through with his pledge to advance a pro-crypto agenda.

However, Trump's effort to secure votes clashes with the actions he's taken, and raises legitimate concerns about how he will affect this industry and its already less-than-sterling reputation, making our support for his platform less than wildly enthusiastic. The cynic in us also wonders if this most transactional of politicians would be so fervent for the space if its supporters didn't have big bucks to contribute to campaign coffers. As for Harris, we'd appreciate it if she said anything substantial about the topic at all.

Still, it's great that crypto is a talking point at the highest level of U.S. politics in 2024. This would have been unthinkable not long ago, particularly after the 2022 collapse of FTX. Nevertheless, this industry does deserve a more honest conversation from politicians hoping for its votes.

Nikhilesh De contributed reporting.