In a virtual meeting designed to improve relations between the crypto industry and the Democratic Party on Thursday, tensions flared as executives lashed out at top Biden administration officials over the ongoing regulatory crackdown on digital assets, according to inside information gathered by Fox journalist Eleanor Terret.
Crypto Executives Clash With Biden Officials
The closed-door Zoom call, hosted by Congressman Ro Khanna, was reportedly intended to help the party’s 2024 presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, win back the crypto vote that has drifted toward the Republican Party, led by former President Donald Trump’s continued support of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
However, Eleanor reports that the meeting quickly devolved into a heated airing of grievances, highlighting the difficult battle Democrats face in garnering support from the crypto industry.
Attendees from the crypto side included high-profile figures such as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Coinbase’s CLO Paul Grewal, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of stablecoin issuer company Circle, Uniswap’s Hayden Adams, Kraken CEO David Ripley, SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci, and venture capitalist Ron Conway.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, Federal Reserve official Lael Brainard, and other senior White House staffers were present on the government side. Venture capitalists Mark Cuban and Chris Dixon were also reportedly present at the virtual meeting.
‘Regulatory Assault’
According to Terret’s sources, industry representatives did not hold back in expressing their frustration with the Biden administration’s “regulatory assault” on the crypto sector.
“Executives didn’t hold back on telling the administration reps how much damage they’ve done to the digital asset industry and the Democrat Party with their actions against digital assets,” one anonymous attendee told Fox Business.
The tension boiled over when Adeyemo claimed that banks and regulators were not actively trying to cut the crypto industry off from the broader financial system. In response, a crypto executive challenged attendees to raise their hands if their firms had been denied banking services due to White House policies – a move saw nearly all the industry representatives lift their hands.
Despite the heated exchanges, some participants managed to strike a more optimistic tone. Anthony Scaramucci expressed hope that Harris could still gain support in the digital asset community, noting that “it’s encouraging these high-level officials took the time to show up and listen to our industry.”
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, also suggested that the focus should now shift to the Harris campaign and what it’s “willing to do” to position the Vice President as a “strong new face for crypto.”
When writing, the total crypto market cap valuation stands at $2 trillion after hitting a low of $1.6 trillion on Monday. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency on the market, hit a weekly high of $62,800 on Thursday night after plunging nearly 20% earlier this week.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com