Kamala Harris Is Not Directly Accepting Crypto Donations, a PAC Is, Coinbase Says

A spokesperson for Coinbase said the Future Forward PAC, which is dedicated to supporting Kamala Harris, is accepting crypto donations, rather than her campaign directly.

Vice President Kamala Harris is not accepting cryptocurrency donations directly, but a political action committee (PAC) dedicated to supporting her campaign is, according to a Coinbase (COIN) executive.

Harris "is accepting donations," Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said at a Citigroup event Wednesday. "She's using Coinbase Commerce now to accept crypto for her campaign."

A Coinbase spokesperson later clarified that Haas was referring to the Future Forward USA PAC, not the Harris campaign. "CoinBase can confirm that the Future Forward PAC has onboarded with Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto donations," the spokesperson told CoinDesk.

While the Harris campaign isn't taking crypto contributions directly, Future Forward USA is a major source of support for Harris, and the development is, at minimum, a signal that Democrats are warming to cryptocurrencies.

Harris' opponent in the presidential election, Donald Trump, courted – and won – support from crypto fans and companies. The presidential administration in which Harris serves has been strongly criticized by the industry for what's viewed as an anti-crypto stance.

Future Forward is a hybrid PAC, first used for President Joe Biden, that can contribute directly to the campaign or pay for independent advertising that's not coordinated with Harris' camp.

Harris' campaign website does not currently offer ways to donate in crypto, and advocacy group Crypto4Harris told Fortune that it was not aware of the development.

A representative for the Harris campaign didn't immediately comment when contacted by CoinDesk.

Harris has been a vocal critic of crypto in the past, calling for the industry to be "regulated to death" in a 2021 interview with the New York Times. However, she has since softened her stance, saying in a 2023 interview with Axios that she believes crypto has "potential."

The vice president's changing views on crypto may be due to the growing popularity of the asset class among年輕 voters and the increasing adoption of crypto by mainstream institutions.

Harris is not the first Democratic presidential candidate to accept crypto donations. In 2020, Andrew Yang and Cory Booker both used Coinbase Commerce to accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Edited by Nick Baker and Nikhilesh De.

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Helene Braun is a markets and breaking news reporter at CoinDesk, covering Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin ETFs and crypto exchanges. She is also the co-host of CoinDesk's Markets Daily show. Helene is a graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.

Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for global policy and regulation. He doesn't hold any crypto.

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