Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse appeared to compliment Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ sophisticated approach to regulating digital assets during his onstage appearance at the 8th Annual Washington DC Fintech Week. The crypto executive contrasted Harris’ strategy toward crypto with the one of her Republican rival Donald Trump, who self-identified himself as “The Crypto Candidate.”
”Obviously, Trump came out early and very aggressively in pro-crypto and said he’s the crypto president,” Garlinghouse said on Wednesday, as quoted by Decrypt. “Kamala and Team Harris have been more nuanced.”
”Kamala Harris is from Silicon Valley. She has generally been pro-technology over the years,” he added. ”She has been relatively quiet on the topic.”
Ripple CEO’s comments come days after Harris delivered her first concrete pro-crypto policy that was announced as a part of the platform targeting Black male voters. According to the document, Harris’ administration will support a regulatory framework for digital assets so Black men—the core Democratic voter group—and their crypto investments are protected. The agenda also outlines other promises meant to court this crucial demographic, such as 1 million fully forgivable loans for Black entrepreneurs, legalizing recreational marijuana, and creating a national health initiative that would address diseases that disproportionally affect Black men.
This month, Ripple faced mixed reactions from the crypto community because of its apparent support for Kamala Harris, the rival of the crypto darling Donald Trump. While Garlinghouse maintained that he won’t endorse any particular presidential candidate and that his company will engage in bipartisan dialogue to promote favorable crypto regulation, Chris Larsen, his fellow co-founder at Ripple, contributed $1 million in XRP to Kamala-backing PAC and pledged another $10 million to the campaign.
Although Garlinghouse has on several occasions referred to the November 5 elections as pivotal for the US crypto industry, he also predicted that either winner will be more pro-crypto than the Biden administration.
In July, Ripple backed pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton in his Massachusetts Senate bid to unseat an avid crypto opponent Elizabeth Warren. As XRP holder, Deaton filed in 2021 a motion on behalf of other XRP holders in the SEC vs Ripple case, arguing that their interests were not being adequately represented. Democrat Senator Warren has been behind the anti-money laundering bill concerning crypto and has claimed that digital assets were widely used by Middle Eastern terrorist organizations.
In May, Ripple announced a $25 million contribution to the Fairshake PAC that would support pro-crypto candidates during the 2024 elections. The donation came on top of another $25 million contribution in 2023.
This article was originally Posted on Coinpaper.com
