Among the people that Harris is reportedly relying on to develop her economic plan are two that are seen as decidedly anti-crypto. Crypto industry folks were not pleased.
Crypto supporters did not look kindly on two of Harris’ reported choices to advise her on economic policy.
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Posted August 13, 2024 at 5:23 pm EST.
A new Bloomberg report disclosing the advisers who Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is tapping to refine her economic pitch to voters has inflamed many in the crypto industry, citing the anti-crypto policies pursued in the past by two of them.
According to the Tuesday report, which cited people familiar with Harris’ plans, the Democratic presidential candidate has hired advisers including two former aides of President Biden, Brian Deese and Bharat Ramamurti, to work on her economic strategy.
Deese previously served as the director of the National Economic Council under Biden, and in January 2023, he co-wrote a blog post on the White House site entitled “the Administration’s Roadmap to Mitigating Cryptocurrencies Risk.” Deese and his co-authors argued for ramping up enforcement of the cryptocurrency industry and expanding regulators’ powers over the sector to fight fraud and reduce risk.
Bharat Ramamurti was the National Economic Council’s deputy director under Deese, and also served as the deputy economic policy director on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) 2020 presidential campaign. Warren has been one of the Senate’s staunchest critics of the cryptocurrency sector.
In a lengthy thread on X on Tuesday, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, lambasted the reported roles of Deese and Ramamurti in the Harris campaign, calling the appointments “new evidence that Kamala Harris will continue [her] crypto crackdown. Her advisor choices suggest she will keep Biden’s hostile attitude to crypto.”
Read more: Crypto Execs Complain About Getting Unbanked in Meeting With Top Democratic Officials
Thorn further described Deese and Ramamurty as “two key architects of the Biden admin’s anti-crypto crusade, including Chokepoint 2.0.” Chokepoint 2.0 refers to the Biden administration’s alleged plan to cut the crypto industry off from the U.S. banking system.
NEW EVIDENCE THAT @KamalaHarris WILL CONTINUE CRYPTO CRACKDOWN
her advisor choices suggest she will keep biden’s hostile attitude to crypto
harris is working w/ brian deese & bharat ramamurti, 2 key anti-crypto officials from biden admin..
thread 🧵 pic.twitter.com/1cMX4UtXXY
— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) August 13, 2024
In response to Thorn’s thread, Castle Island Ventures’ Nic Carter tweeted that “Bharat Ramamurti == it’s over over. Harris appears to be Warren 2.0,” while crypto law professor J.W. Verret wrote that “[Harris] is hiring the creators of Chokepoint 2.0, the people who started the crypto crackdown! At this point anyone in crypto who supports Kamala is anti-crypto, no other way to put it.”
Read more: Kamala Harris’s VP Pick Boosts the Price of the KAMA Memecoin
6th Man Ventures’ Mike Dudas further opined that “Kamala Harris’ campaign is a significant threat to the future of crypto, Bitcoin and the freedom to transact in America.” Even pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) weighed in, arguing on X that “If it enhances or future-proofs freedom, it will be opposed in a Harris administration.”
A spokesperson for Vice President Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
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