Abstract:
- Government officials including U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, and Vice President Kamala Harris's legislative affairs director Kristen Lucius attended the online meeting.
- Thursday's meeting was different from last month's because Brainard and Adeyemo were also present, a person familiar with the matter said.
Crypto industry leaders and senior White House officials met for the second time in about a month to discuss future crypto policy.
A person familiar with the matter told The Block that they held an online meeting before noon Eastern Time on Thursday. Participants included government officials such as Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Lael Brainard, Director of the National Economic Council, Bruce Reed, Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House, and Kristine Lucius, Director of Legislative Affairs for Vice President Kamala Harris. Sources said that California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna organized the event.
According to sources, from the crypto industry, the meeting was attended by Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams, Stellar Development Foundation Denelle Dixon, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, billionaire Mark Cuban, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
Sources said there was some "grumbling" among them, but they also talked about use cases and policy outcomes, including what regulators should focus on and paying attention to jobs and economic impacts.
Senior adviser to President Biden, Anita Dunn, lawmakers and cryptocurrency leaders met last month at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., moderated by Rep. Khanna, to discuss a range of topics, such as the SEC's action on the agency's staff accounting announcements and the need for the Biden administration to engage with the cryptocurrency industry. Thursday's meeting was much smaller, sources said.
“The biggest difference is who participates”
Thursday's meeting was different from last month's meeting because both Brainard and Adeyemo were present, the sources said.
The source said: “The biggest difference is who is in attendance, and Wally and Lyle are the highest-ranking representatives of non-regulators who are overseeing cryptocurrency policy in the Biden administration. So Lyle and Wally’s attendance really changes the conversation and involves the people who are actually responsible for setting policy.”
“That was very much seen as moving things forward,” the sources said, adding that both Brainard and Adeyemo were “very curious.”
Cryptocurrency plays a major role in the upcoming election season, with millions of dollars pouring into super PACs and presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump reaching out to the industry.
The Republican Party expressed support for cryptocurrency companies and investors in its 2024 election platform, including a vow to end the "illegal and un-American crackdown" on the U.S. cryptocurrency industry. Trump has also publicly expressed friendliness to the industry.
Meanwhile, Harris’ team began reaching out to the cryptocurrency industry shortly after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection and endorsed Harris to succeed him. Harris has yet to publicly take a stance on cryptocurrencies.
Next week, grassroots group Crypto4Harris will host a town hall meeting with speeches from crypto industry leaders, including Crypto Innovation Council CEO Sheila Warren and billionaire Mark Cuban.
“Crypto is building a movement to support Kamala Harris,” Crypto4Harris said in a post on X earlier this week. “A group of industry leaders, policy experts, and everyday crypto enthusiasts are organizing to support Harris while pushing for a nuanced policy position to make the United States a leader in digital assets.”
