As Harris Embraces Crypto, Her Coalition Holds — For Now

Vice President Kamala Harris is cozying up to the cryptocurrency industry in the final stretch of the presidential campaign, embracing an industry scorned by progressives and giving hope to moderates who want her administration to take a more business-friendly approach to the economy.

Progressive policy makers largely celebrated the economic approach of President Joe Biden, whose administration embarked on an effort to reverse what liberals saw as 40 years of corporate dominance of policy-making in Washington. The approach also kept the Democratic Party, which seemed at the edge of an ideological fracture during the 2020 primaries, largely united.

Harris’ embrace of crypto ― coming just two years after the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that embarrassed the industry and erased more than $1 trillion of investment, including many people’s life savings ―is her most noteworthy reversal from Biden’s economic approach so far.

Her crypto-friendly approach is partially a reflection of how the industry has used money to conquer Washington. It has won allies throughout Congress and managed to enlist a small army of digital asset holders to do its political bidding.

Whether it’s a sign of a broader ideological shift on Harris’ part is unclear, and the Democratic nominee may have an interest in keeping it that way as she tries to keep every possible element of the coalition happy ahead of an ultra-close November election.

Interviews with crypto supporters, opponents and Harris allies, however, point to a scenario where Harris may be seeking to correct what moderate Democrats view as a major mistake by the Biden administration ― an unwillingness in their eyes to even engage with the business community, including