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Coinbase\u2019s chief financial officer, Alesia Haas, said on Wednesday that U.S. vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is using the firm\u2019s Commerce platform to accept crypto donations.<\/p>\n
Haas made the claim in a conversation with Citigroup\u2019s director of payments, Peter Christiansen, at Citi\u2019s 2024 Global TMT Conference in New York, a recording of which Fortune<\/em> has reviewed.<\/p>\n The claim follows a report<\/a> in August that Coinbase was in conversation with the Harris campaign. Harris\u2019s campaign has not yet replied a request for comment.<\/p>\n Under President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party has for the most part been less supportive of crypto than Republicans. But that recent lobbying efforts could be on the verge of changing that.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is accepting crypto donations. She\u2019s using Coinbase Commerce now to accept crypto for her own campaign,\u201d Haas said, referring to the company\u2019s platform of merchants it has operated since 2018.<\/p>\n Advocacy group Crypto4Harris says they aren\u2019t aware of Harris accepting crypto, and Harris\u2019 official fundraising site doesn\u2019t currently show the integration. In June a super PAC, Future Forward announced<\/a> it had raised $50 million to support Harris. We\u2019ve reached out to Coinbase base to reconfirm Haas\u2019s claim and await response.<\/p>\n If true, the development would follow on what Haas says is \u201celevated policy spend\u201d by Coinbase going into what she says is a rare opportunity. \u201cWe\u2019re in a unique precipice where we might get regulatory clarity in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n In June, Coinbase made it\u2019s first contribution<\/a> to Fair Shake, a political actions committee set up support candidates that support crypto. Throughout the second quarter of this year Haas says \u201cincremental\u201d contributions were made to the PAC, \u201cfurthering support of just general policy efforts into Q3.\u201d<\/p>\n As of June the super PAC reportedly<\/a> won 32 of the 34 elections it was involved in. \u201cWe are seeing those dollars have impact in those elections,\u201d Haas says.<\/p>\n \u201cShe has a huge opportunity. We\u2019re cautiously optimistic,\u201d Haas added. \u201cShe has not rolled out the details yet, but she has made overtures that she would like to drive crypto legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brain Armstrong has reportedly said<\/a> that the company has donated directly to neither Presidential campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nShifting tones?<\/h2>\n
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