Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas Says Kamala Harris Is Using the Company to Accept Crypto Donations
Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas said Wednesday that U.S. vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is using the company’s Commerce platform to accept donations in cryptocurrency.
Haas made the claim in a conversation with Citigroup’s chief payments officer, Peter Christiansen, at Citi’s 2024 Global TMT Conference in New York, a recording of that conversation shows. Luck has been considered.
Claims follow a report in August that Coinbase had been in conversation with Harris’ campaign. Harris’ campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Under President Joe Biden, Democrats have largely been less supportive of cryptocurrencies than Republicans. But recent lobbying efforts may be about to change that.
“She is accepting donations in crypto. She is currently using Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto for her own campaign,” Haas said, referring to the company’s commerce platform that the company has operated since 2018.
The Crypto4Harris advocacy group said it was unaware Harris accepted cryptocurrency, and Harris’ official fundraising website does not currently show the integration. In June, a super PAC, Future Forward announced raised $50 million to support Harris. We have reached out to Coinbase to confirm Haas’s statement and await a response.
Change tone?
If true, the development would follow what Haas said was “enhanced regulatory spending” by Coinbase as it enters what she said is a rare opportunity. “We’re at a unique precipice where we can get regulatory clarity in the United States.”
In June, Coinbase made its first contribution to Fair Shake, a political action committee that has formed a crypto-friendly candidate. During the second quarter of this year, Haas said “increasing” contributions were made to the PAC, “continuing to support common policy efforts in Q3.”
As of June, the super PAC reported won 32 of the 34 elections they participated in. “We saw those dollars have an impact on those elections,” Haas said.
“She has a great opportunity. We are cautiously optimistic,” Haas added. “She hasn’t given any details yet, but she has suggested that she wants to push for crypto legislation.”
Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brain Armstrong has is said to have said that the company has never directly donated to any presidential campaign.
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