Vice President Kamala Harris released a new “Black Male Opportunity Agenda,” aimed at shoring up faltering support among that demographic. His campaign promises, among other measures, a crypto-friendly regulatory framework.
African Americans have disproportionately higher rates of crypto asset adoption than other U.S. demographic groups, but that may not guarantee new votes for Harris.
Harris’ crypto outreach
U.S. Vice President and Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris is apparently linking her support for cryptocurrency to an effort to win over African-American voters. In the Opportunity Agenda for Black Men released today on its website, Harris’ campaign touts regulatory friendliness as a measure that would disproportionately help this community.
“More than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets. Vice President Harris…will ensure that owners and investors in digital assets have a regulatory framework so that Black men and others participating in this market are protected,” the agenda states.
Read more: Crypto regulations: what are the advantages and disadvantages?
The claim that African Americans hold a relatively high amount of crypto compared to other demographic groups has held up in recent years. However, offering new crypto regulations as a gift to the black community seems like an odd choice.
After all, polls suggest voters are increasingly supporting crypto across the board. Why is Harris calling this a racial issue?
One of the Harris campaign’s main concerns is her declining support among black men. The New York Times claims that Harris is significantly underperforming with this particular demographic. Joe Biden enjoyed 15% more support in 2020 than Harris does today.
While the polls remain remarkably close, the Harris campaign intends to regain some votes on this front.
Her opponent, Donald Trump, has made support for Bitcoin a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign. Harris has also supported the industry as VanEck sees either candidate’s victory as a success for the cryptography. Yet Harris’ support is generally seen as vaguer than Trump’s, and she has fewer concrete promises for the industry.
Ultimately, campaign statements presented pro-crypto regulation as one of several “tools to achieve financial freedom” that Harris is proposing for Black men. These tools include debt forgiveness, new loans, employment programs and several other economic incentives.
Read more: How can blockchain be used for voting in 2024?
It is not yet clear whether this particular economic message will translate into new support. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and industry thought leader, expressed ambivalence towards either candidate’s crypto policies in an interview.
“Both the Trump administration and the Harris administration will print money. They do it in different ways. But the money will be printed. And so your crypto is going to go up – the path might be very shaky, but ultimately we know where it’s going,” Hayes said.
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