Kamala and Crypto? How Biden’s Potential Replacements Feel About Bitcoin

With key members of his own party reviving a push to keep President Joe Biden out of the 2024 election, attention has now shifted to the handful of prominent Democrats who might take his place atop the ticket. 

As the prospect of that major shift looms, many in crypto are asking: How might these replacements govern when it comes to crypto? 

Multiple prominent crypto policy makers recently told Decrypt that any Biden replacement would mark a welcome change, as the crypto regulatory landscape could hardly get any more hostile than it’s been under the Biden Administration. 

That said, there are still key differences between the top contenders for Democratic nominee when it comes to crypto. Here’s a look at the top candidates to replace Biden, and how they might lead. 

Kamala Harris

By a wide margin, the current top pick to replace the president is his Vice President, Kamala Harris. 

Harris got her political start by winning a race in 2010 to become District Attorney of tech-friendly San Francisco. When she was elected vice president in 2020, her assent was widely viewed as a boon for tech companies and Silicon Valley. 

But the former prosecutor has stayed remarkably mum when it comes to crypto. Harris appears to have, in fact, never made a public statement on the subject. 

When it comes to AI, another polarizing new technology, the vice president has been fairly critical—often pointing out the innovation’s threat to human rights and democratic principles. 

But AI isn’t crypto, even if the industries sometimes overlap. And there also appears to be little love lost between Harris and Elizabeth Warren, the outspoken Democratic senator rumored to be the driving force behind Biden’s anti-crypto agenda. 

So, a Harris presidency could easily be a dice roll when it comes to crypto—with ample room for the politician to follow in her predecessor’s footsteps, or forge her own path. 

Gretchen Whitmer

One of the Democrats’ rising stars, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, has forged a reputation as a swing state firebrand who’s found great success in unabashedly embracing progressive causes. 

Whitmer has also, however, indicated precious little about her stance on crypto, one way or another. 

But she is a product of Michigan politics, and Democrats in the midwestern state have shown themselves to be more open to working towards a crypto regulatory framework than others.

Both of Michigan’s Democratic senators, for example, have supported pro-industry legislation. Sen. Gary Peters broke with Biden in May to repeal an SEC rule that prohibited banks from holding crypto, while Sen. Debbie Stabenow has expressed interest in crafting digital assets regulation.

And Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the leading Democratic candidate to replace Stabenow once the senator retires in January, currently boasts an “A” rating from Stand With Crypto, a pro-industry non-profit.

Gavin Newsom

California governor Gavin Newsom has the most visible track record on crypto of any potential Biden replacement, and for good reason: Many of America’s top crypto firms are headquartered in his state. 

Newsom has oscillated somewhat on crypto over the years, as he has with other hot-button issues. In 2022, the veteran California politician vetoed a bill that would have required crypto businesses in the state to acquire a state-approved license to operate, despite calling for such a system months earlier.

Crypto advocates hailed the veto—but a year later, Newsom came back around again, signing a crypto business license framework into law. 

While some industry advocates have concerns that the legislation—set to go into effect next year—might have negative ramifications, others were “encouraged” by Newsom’s insistence that he wants to keep crypto innovation in California. 

The proof may be in the pudding: in the nine months since the legislation became law, crypto giants like Coinbase and Block have remained in the state. 

J.B. Pritzker

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, is one of the most vocally pro-crypto Democrats rumored to be in the running to take over Biden’s collapsing campaign. 

“The future of cryptocurrency is in Illinois,” Pritzker said in August 2021, long before many politicians had come out with positions on the subject.

But since then, the midwestern governor has largely moved off crypto as a key component of his governing agenda—while at the same time pushing to keep Illinois a competitive pro-business environment, and a hub for the development of emerging technologies like quantum computing.

Edited by Andrew Hayward