Photo credit: Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg

Prominent Democratic donors are pushing for Vice President Kamala Harris to speak at the upcoming Permissionless crypto conference, Decrypt reported on July 30.

According to Jason Yanowitz, founder of Blockworks, the event organizers are considering ways to engage with Harris ahead of the conference, which is set to take place from October 9 to 11, the report said.

“We’re getting pushed by some of the biggest Democratic donors to have her be there,” Yanowitz told Decrypt.

The push from these influential donors highlights the growing attention crypto enthusiasts are paying to the forthcoming US presidential election. Many in the community view the election as a critical moment for the mainstreaming of cryptocurrency. 

Yanowitz mentioned that these donors have even offered to facilitate discussions between Harris’s representatives and the conference organizers. However, Blockworks has yet to hear directly from the vice president’s campaign.

“They’re basically saying, ‘We’d like to set this up for you,’” Yanowitz explained, emphasizing the goal of drawing bipartisan participation at the event.

Blockworks is also in discussions to host various Republican and Democratic politicians from both the House of Representatives and the Senate to foster a bipartisan dialogue. Organizers are in active contact with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s team as well, the report said.

The call for Harris’s participation comes in the wake of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s pro-crypto address at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. Trump, who once opposed cryptocurrency, pledged to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on his first day in office and proposed creating a strategic Bitcoin stockpile for the country.

At the same event, Kennedy expressed signing an executive order that would direct the US Treasury to purchase and hold Bitcoin.

From the blue camp, perspectives on crypto are also starting to change. In a letter, Democrat lawmakers urged their national committee to add crypto-supportive language to the party platform, selecting a crypto-friendly vice-presidential candidate, and replacing SEC Chair Gary Gensler with a “pro-innovation” chief.