President Biden is considering accepting crypto donations via Coinbase Commerce, drawing criticism from the crypto community.
Unexpectedly, President Joe Biden is looking into the potential of using Coinbase Commerce to handle crypto donations.
A flurry of criticism has been directed towards this from different parts of the crypto community.
Furthermore, industry participants pleaded with the cryptocurrency community not to back Biden’s campaign.
Commercial litigator Joe Carlasare, who is well-known for his backing of Bitcoin, took to X to draw attention to what he perceives as a discrepancy in the Biden administration’s position.
In a federal court case, Biden’s SEC is suing Coinbase, claiming the company lacks the legal authority to operate as an exchange. Carlasare stated, “The Biden campaign is getting ready to take cryptocurrency donations through Coinbase at the same time.
Attorney John Deaton, a pro-XRP candidate challenging Senator Elizabeth Warren, emphasized Carlasare’s worries. He took issue with the erratic nature of politics in Washington, DC.
“Joe’s post highlights the utter dysfunction of Washington DC politics,” Deaton commented.
A measure authored by the banking industry that forbids the self-custody of Bitcoin and other digital assets has been introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren.
He also emphasized the disparity between Gensler and Biden’s positions on cryptocurrencies. Gary Gensler asserts that those same cryptocurrency assets are unlawful securities, according to Deaton.
President Joe Biden, however, will take the illicit securities as political contributions in the interim, according to Deaton.
Furthermore, the CEO of the crypto analytics company Messari, Ryan Selkis, expressed his significant displeasure.
“Before ANY concessions or policy reversals, I will never be able to look at anyone who donates to this campaign using cryptocurrency without feeling angry. Would demonstrate utter cowardice, disloyalty, and low self-esteem,”
Selkis stated.
Moreover, Coin Metrics founder Nic Carter outlined a number of complaints regarding the Biden administration’s approach to cryptocurrency.
He said that the administration was pressuring banks to stop taking on cryptocurrency customers.
He also emphasized the administration’s involvement in legal disputes with significant exchanges and token initiatives.
He also chastised them for driving numerous excellent startups overseas and intimidating Bitcoin miners.
“They really think we’re going to give cryptocurrency to the campaign?” Carter asked with a tone of indignation.
According to sources close to the Biden campaign, conversations regarding the campaign’s acceptance of cryptocurrency donations through Coinbase Commerce are underway with key stakeholders in the industry.
Several cryptocurrencies can be accepted by retailers thanks to this service.
Furthermore, the campaign of presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump already uses it to accept donations in digital money.
The action is a part of the Biden campaign’s attempts to win over people who are interested in cryptocurrency before a hotly contested election.
According to an unnamed insider, the campaign aims to demonstrate that it is not anti-crypto.
The insider told The Block that “they’re paying attention to issues around crypto and are trying to find quick wins to show that they’re supportive of the industry.”
Furthermore, according to a different source, the campaign has become more focused on cryptocurrency in response to criticism that it undermined a bipartisan effort to repeal SAB 121.
A law known as SAB 121 from the SEC is thought to be impeding the expansion of the cryptocurrency market in the United States.
Given the administration’s prior position on cryptocurrencies, critics contend that this effort to solicit donations in cryptocurrency is “hypocritical.”
Nonetheless, it seems that the Biden campaign’s interaction with the cryptocurrency sector is a component of a larger plan to garner as many votes as possible.
Super PACs supported by cryptocurrency have amassed substantial sums of money, and both sides of politics are feeling the impact of them.
Citing statistics from Open Secrets, Public Citizen said that these super PACs have accumulated a war chest of $100 million.
The Biden campaign is still considering its options in spite of the criticism. According to sources, the “exploratory” stage of the conversation regarding taking cryptocurrency donations is still ongoing.
They emphasized the significance of this group in what is anticipated to be a fiercely contested election.
