Is Kamala Harris taking campaign donations from Coinbase?
The crypto industry in the U.S. has become a powerful lobbying force.
The crypto industry in the U.S. has become a powerful lobbying force. Now it looks like the Democratic candidate is also cashing in from money.
Cryptocurrencies are playing an increasingly important role in the American election campaign. Campaign contributions from the crypto space are now flowing into candidates' coffers. It has now emerged that Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the most powerful position in the world, will accept donations from a PAC tied to Coinbase.
Coinbase donates basically only via a workaround to the Harris campaign, namely via a so-called PAC. PAC stands for Political Action Committee, a kind of lobby group that strategically runs campaigns in elections. PACs may donate up to USD 5,000 per candidate per election. In addition, PACs can start independent advertising campaigns for the respective candidates.
“Coinbase can confirm that it is working with the Future Forward PAC to accept crypto donations,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk. Yet the indirect exchange between crypto interests and the Democratic presidential campaign can be seen as a signal of thaw between the camps. Traditionally the Democrats are viewed as less crypto-friendly than the Republicans in the U.S. Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken out in favor of cryptocurrencies. At the Bitcoin 2024 Conference he spoke for an hour about his Bitcoin vision for the U.S. The Republican wants to implement, among other things, a Bitcoin reserve in the U.S. A direct donation in cryptocurrencies to the Harris team is currently not possible - unlike Trump.
