The cryptocurrency world is celebrating a successful operation to oust its critics and usher in a new cohort of allies up and down the ballot just two years after several scandals roiled the industry's status in Washington.
While the crypto industry walked a fine line as it made its pitch to both President-elect Trump and Vice President Harris, Trump’s victory delivers a big win for the crypto community as it gains prominence in Washington.
Trump’s embrace of crypto on the campaign trail marked a shift for the former president, who once dismissed digital currencies as a “scam.”
He has since vowed to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and put an end to what he calls the “unlawful and unAmerican crypto crackdown.”
“I think in every economy what matters most on crypto is the tone from the top, and now you have the president-elect, who has a very ambitious and optimistic position on crypto,” cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad told The Hill.
“He wants it built and developed in the United States, he wants America to be the leader in crypto, and I think that’s really encouraging.”
Coinbase was at the forefront of the industry’s political engagement this election cycle, with the company loading $70.5 million into the Fairshake super PAC, which also received $1 million from CEO Brian Armstrong, according to Federal Election Commission data.
The crypto exchange platform also helped launch Stand with Crypto, a 501(c)4 group that held rallies and concerts across the country in the lead up to the election.
Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes told The Hill last week that crypto innovators and others in the community were “under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats.”
The Trump campaign repeatedly hammered at the Biden-Harris administration’s crypto-critical approach, notably including the leadership of........