Last Sunday, 81-year-old U.S. President Biden announced that he would not run for re-election, and Vice President Kamala Harris immediately said that she would succeed Biden and seek the Democratic nomination. After Biden gave her full support, many Democrats quickly expressed their support for her.
While Biden's endorsement adds a strong endorsement to Harris' candidacy, the outcome remains uncertain after four of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Party issued statements praising Biden but remained silent on Harris's support, including former President Barack Obama, who is said to remain neutral, as he did during the 2020 primary.
Just today, California Congresswoman and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially endorsed Harris. Although many Democrats on Capitol Hill support Harris, New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who lead the Democratic Party in Congress, have not yet endorsed her.
So, besides Harris, who else could be the Democratic candidate, and what kind of cryptocurrency policy would they bring?
In recent weeks, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have become the hottest candidates. Newsom has become famous nationwide for his public debates with Republican governors, while Whitmer has been a national representative of abortion rights supporters, which is also widely seen as a key issue for the Democratic Party in the November election. It is worth noting that Whitmer has previously made it clear that she would not seek the nomination even if Biden dropped out of the race.
In addition, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has also attracted much attention. The Wall Street Journal predicts that Pennsylvania will become a key state in the two parties' decisive battle in the coming months.
Illinois Governor Pritzker has also become an extremely attractive candidate with a net worth of $3.5 billion.
Democratic Candidates’ Crypto Stance
Vice President Kamala Harris
Financial disclosure information shows that Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff have not been involved in the cryptocurrency field and prefer to invest in traditional finance, U.S. Treasuries and emerging markets.
During the 2020 election, Harris hired Ryan Montoya as her schedule director. It is reported that Montoya was the chief technology officer of the Sacramento Kings basketball team (NBA team). Under his leadership, the Sacramento Kings became the first team in the world to accept Bitcoin payments, and also tried to mine Ethereum and launch an NFT series.
In addition, the New York Times previously reported that Harris has close ties with the technology industry. When she was nominated as vice president, it was even seen as "good news" for Silicon Valley. As the technology industry becomes more and more relevant to cryptocurrency, it is not ruled out that Harris may choose to support Bitcoin before the presidential election in the future.
California Governor Gavin Newsom – Crypto Supporter
Among potential candidates, Newsom has a deep understanding of the cryptocurrency industry and is open to it. He has been one of the most prominent promoters of blockchain and crypto technology within the Democratic Party, and is committed to working with the cryptocurrency industry to develop national policies and promote education.
As early as May 2022, Newsom issued an executive order to promote blockchain research and innovation and explore the government's application in it. Although the crypto policy environment has changed due to the Celsius incident and the FTX bankruptcy storm, resulting in the rejection of a new state-level industry regulatory bill, Newsom's positive attitude towards the crypto industry has not changed.
In October 2023, Newsom continued to advance crypto legislation and signed a crypto licensing bill that will take effect in July 2025. The bill requires the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, including a licensing system and law enforcement and rule-making powers. DFPI also received an 18-month implementation period to ensure that the regulatory framework can be tailored to respond to industry trends and mitigate consumer harm.
Newsom’s deep knowledge of the cryptocurrency industry means he may be willing to work with the industry.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Whitmer has been considered a potential candidate, but Whitmer has not discussed any of her positions on cryptocurrency or promoted cryptocurrency policy in any significant way in Michigan, suggesting that she might be more responsive to policy issues around cryptocurrency if she became president, or that she is simply not interested in cryptocurrency from a policy perspective.
While other states, such as California, have implemented regulatory frameworks to work with the industry, there is little indication Whitmer will make any big moves on crypto.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
During his tenure, Shapiro, who like Whitmer has been viewed as a possible presidential candidate, decided that the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities would include “cryptocurrency” in its definition of money transmission law as a type of “currency,” reversing a 2019 policy that was in place before Shapiro became Pennsylvania governor.
While Shapiro hasn’t made any major moves in crypto, he has also refrained from saying anything negative about the industry, even after state tax breaks were used by cryptocurrency mining companies to help create data centers.
In the future, Shapiro may be willing to consider establishing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies at the national level.
Illinois Governor Pritzker – Crypto Bull
If there’s one person who’s “crypto bull,” it’s probably Pritzker.
Prior to the collapse of FTX in 2022, Pritzker's office had been positive about cryptocurrencies. Additionally, in a 2021 Facebook post, Pritzker welcomed cryptocurrency ATM company CoinFlip to Chicago and stated that "the future of cryptocurrency is in Illinois."
In fact, Illinois under Pritzker's leadership began to accept cryptocurrencies very early on.
Industry observers say that if the cryptocurrency industry wants to find someone to be the Democratic presidential candidate or Harris' vice presidential candidate, Pritzker may be the best choice.
So in the current situation, which MEME coins are worth paying attention to?
Related MEME coins
Currently, Harris, the most popular candidate appointed by Biden, has related memecoin. (Does not constitute investment advice)
$HERRIS
According to the X platform, the token $HERRIS (Kumala Herris) has more than 5,000 followers and a market value of $6.2M. After Biden announced his withdrawal from the election, the price of $HERRIS once exceeded $0.009, and has now fallen back to $0.0062, with a 24-hour increase of 24.43%.
In addition, more related MEME coins began to flood the market.
$CUMALA
According to the X platform, the Solana chain’s on-chain meme$CUMALA (cumala whoris) has been issued, and currently only 190 people follow it.
$KAMA
Currently, $KAMA (Kamala Horris) is the largest MEME coin on the SOLANA chain. It once rose above $0.03 to set a new record high. It is now quoted at $0.02736, with a 24-hour increase of 48.45%. Currently, the market value of $KAMA is $25.83M.
