Coinbase-backed lobby urges ABC to ask Trump, Harris about crypto

A big purple bus adorned with “AMERICA ❤️ CRYPTO” started making its way across five swing states last week, on a mission to get out the vote ahead of the presidential election.

The campaign, initially launched by Coinbase, has a shorter-term objective: Getting a crypto question asked at Tuesday night’s debate.

The Stand With Crypto Alliance, created last year, initiated a letter writing petition five days ago to pressure ABC News to raise a crypto question in the first — and perhaps only — presidential debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The group, which is hosting 2,500 debate watch parties across the country, has gotten over 2,000 people to sign a pre-drafted letter on its website.

“I am one of the 52 million Americans who own cryptocurrency,” the letter says. “On behalf of myself and all American crypto owners, I urge you to ask the candidates their position on cryptocurrency and its place in the American economy.”

In recent months, Trump has branded himself as the pro-crypto candidate. Harris hasn’t yet made her official stance known on digital assets, but the Biden administration’s aggressive crackdown on the industry has created an opening for the former president.

Trump has pledged to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who’s taken on companies including Coinbase. In addition to the presidential race, the group is backing crypto-friendly politicians in Congress as it pursues more favorable laws. In May, the House passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, with the help of more than 70 Democrats.

“Bipartisan crypto legislation has already passed the House of Representatives, and more and more elected officials are coming out in support of crypto,” the letter says.

ABC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On its website, the alliance gives Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, “A” grades for their support of crypto. For Harris and running mate Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, the group gives a grade of “N/A” and says, “pending stance on crypto.”

Many crypto fanatics see the November election as a defining moment for the sector, and they’re showing up with their wallets. Nearly half of all donations made by corporations this cycle have been from crypto companies, according to a Public Citizen report.

Stand With Crypto’s tour through battleground states is more about turning out the vote than raising cash. And the group has been trying for months to get presidential candidates to talk about the issue.

The alliance previously lobbied CNN with 2,300 emails asking for a crypto-pegged question ahead of the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, who at the time was the presumptive Democratic nominee. The network didn’t broach the topic.

Between online and in-person efforts, Stand with Crypto has signed up 104,000 people through its voter registration tool. Along the way, the group has put on concerts and delivered speeches to throngs of fans.

The bus tour kicked off in Phoenix last Wednesday, with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat who’s now an independent, stoking the crowd with an impassioned speech about electing lawmakers who understand cryptocurrencies.

“Sensible, reasonable regulation that allows the industry to continue to innovate and grow – that’s what we got to stay focused on,” Sinema said.

The bus then headed to Las Vegas, where crypto advocates heard from the state treasurer and chief of staff for the lieutenant governor. According to data shared by the alliance, 385,000 Nevadans are crypto owners, and more than 16,000 people in the state have signed up to be Stand with Crypto advocates.

Arizona and Nevada are two of the seven states considered critical and up for grabs with less than two months until election day and the contest in a virtual tie. This week, the crypto bus will make stops in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which are also among the key swing states.

The final event takes place in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18. Several top Coinbase execs, including Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, will speak, and music duo The Chainsmokers will be performing at a nightclub.

The movement hasn’t entirely committed to Trump.

Coinbase policy head Faryar Shirzad, who will also be speaking in D.C., said on X that he’s been “pleased to take part in a number of discussions with the Harris team.” He described the approach as “constructive” and said “the dialogue had been an important first step.”

Though Harris hasn’t formally come out with her campaign position on crypto, members of her team have been meeting with crypto industry leaders for months.

“I think we’re going to hear from Vice President Harris soon on this,” Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel of North Carolina told CNBC in an interview in July on the sidelines of the biggest bitcoin event of the year in Nashville. “And I’m very optimistic we’re gonna get a reset. And that, I think, will matter in a major way.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., also told CNBC at the time that he had been in dialogue with the Harris team on the issue.

Democrats have since gotten more vocal. At a virtual town hall in August, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a crypto bill could pass his chamber this year.