Crypto signals; reading Kamala Harris' campaign team
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Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images
The histories of members of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign team bode ill for blockchains.
Why it matters: Crypto industry leaders have hoped that next year will see a Congress and a president ready to work out a deal with token slingers, one in which politicians and entrepreneurs can live with each other.
The big picture: The 92-page platform from the Democratic Party is just as silent on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as the candidate leading its ticket.
- But three particular staffers on Harris' election team have an explicit history of stymieing the industry in official roles: Brian Deese, Bharat Ramamurti and Brian Nelson.
Zoom in: Deese, former director of President Biden's National Economic Council (NEC), is advising her campaign. He was lead author on a blog post from the White House about dealing aggressively with the risks posed by digital assets.
- Ramamurti, an alum of Sen. Elizabeth Warren's policy team, became a deputy director of the NEC under Biden. He is also advising Harris's campaign.
Friction point: For a long time, legislation on stablecoins was a realistic bet for a crypto bill that could move, but Deese and Ramamurti are credited in reports with killing a deal between the House Financial Committee's leaders to co-sponsor such a bill.
- (One of those leaders, Rep. Maxine Waters, once employed another Harris alum who has returned for the campaign's economic team: Deanne Millison. Millison was with Harris in the Senate and administration.)
Nelson, meanwhile, is a senior advisor on the campaign who goes back to Harris' days as attorney general of California.
- He held a security job at Treasury, where he took the lead on sanctioning Ethereum's privacy protocol, Tornado Cash.
On the other hand, Harris also has advisors who have done work with digital ledger companies outside of public life.
- Former President Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, now also a Harris advisor, consulted with a couple of cryptocurrency firms.
- Gene Sperling, now on her economic team, was on the board of Ripple, the company that builds products around the the cryptocurrency XRP (which is both something of a pariah in the industry and one of its champions, for facing down the SEC).
And also, Sen. Cory Booker, one of her closest political allies, has championed the technology.
Our thought bubble: Reporters have been hyping a crypto reset by top Democrats, but right now, Harris has the wind at her back just playing the hits (economic justice, reproductive health, etc.).
The bottom line: Harris' staff is indicative, but ultimately she's the boss.
- We just don't know what she thinks yet.
