KEY POINTS
- Eleanor Terrett reported that the Zoom crypto roundtable turned 'heated' at some point
- Bloomberg's James Seyffart said it appears the Democratic 'reset' is going well
- On Polymarket, Harris was leading in Pennsylvania, while Trump was leading the VP in Georgia
Democrats are racing with time to "reset" the party's relationship with the cryptocurrency industry, as some lawmakers are pushing for a more positive approach toward the sector. However, there are contradicting reports about what went down during the Thursday virtual meet-up between key crypto leaders and Democratic leaders.
Zoom meeting turned 'ugly'?
Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that the Thursday morning Zoom meeting spearheaded by Rep. Ro Khanna of California became "heated" as key crypto figures discussed the industry's issues with some top Biden administration officials, including Kristine Lucius, a senior adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Lucius reportedly didn't speak, as per Terrett, citing three people on the Zoom call. Among the big-name attendees from the crypto sector were billionaire and investor Mark Cuban, and a host of executives from some of the industry's biggest companies such as Kraken, Uniswap, Ripple, and Coinbase.
🚨NEW from me: Crypto executives clash with Democratic leaders in heated Zoom meeting
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) August 9, 2024
The juicy deets from @RoKhanna’s second meeting with #crypto industry execs, advocates and White House officials. 👇🏼https://t.co/81kDTMK16t
Industry executives allegedly lashed out at White House officials, largely in part over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) enforcement-first approach toward regulating the industry.
Not entirely negative
The Block reported that there was some "airing of grievances" among industry leaders, and the meeting also included discussions about possible use cases and policy outcomes, as per a source.
Senior Bloomberg exchange-traded fund (ETF) analyst James Seyffart also said that the "Dem reset sounds like it's going great," citing a report on the meeting by Bloomberg crypto reporter Olga Kharif.
That Dem reset sounds like its going great! Reporting from my friend @olgakharif
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) August 8, 2024
Full piece here: https://t.co/8G18NVZdly pic.twitter.com/E2cy7gEUdp
Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House official-turned Donald Trump critic, also attended the meeting, as per multiple outlets. Responding to a commenter on X later Thursday who pressed for answers regarding how Harris will treat the crypto space given the Biden administration's "neglect" of the industry for years, Scaramucci said that "we are working on a bipartisan solution and it will happen but it takes time."
Harris flips some swing states
Following news of what went down during the latest crypto roundtable with Democratic leaders, Polymarket traders pushed Harris' odds of winning the 2024 presidential election to 49%, overtaking Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's 48% early Friday.
Polymarket data further showed that Harris is leading Trump in some key battleground states, including Pennsylvania (52% to 48%), Wisconsin (53% to 47%) and Michigan (62% to 38%). Trump is leading Harris in Arizona (56% to 44%), Georgia (55% to 45%) and Nevada (52% to 48%).
Harris has gradually been making waves on Polymarket, where users trade cryptocurrencies to bet on future events. A group of advocates also organized the "Crypto4Harris" campaign, which will hold a virtual meeting with some crypto figures next week, including Scaramucci.
Still, some crypto users are unsure about Harris, as she has not publicly expressed her viewpoints on crypto over the years.
