NEW YORK — A senior adviser to Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign is joining Coinbase’s global advisory council, which already includes several former U.S. senators and President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign manager, as the cryptocurrency exchange broadens its political reach.
David Plouffe, a top Democratic strategist best known as an architect of Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign, is the latest addition to the council, joining as the cryptocurrency industry plays an increasingly prominent role in shaping fast-moving legislation in Congress.
The bipartisan involvement reflects how both parties see crypto holders as an important and growing base of potential swing voters they are eager to tap, as well as their efforts to shape - and profit from - the lucrative industry.
The legislation currently under debate aims to create a comprehensive framework for the regulation of digital assets and comes amid a shift in Washington. President Trump, a Republican, has pledged to make the U.S. the global capital of cryptocurrency, contrasting with what industry leaders viewed as a stifling regulatory approach under the previous Democratic administration.
Trump and his family have also been aggressively expanding their personal business into almost every part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including raising billions of dollars to buy bitcoin, creating a new stablecoin and launching and promoting a Trump-themed meme coin.
Trump addressed crypto enthusiasts at Coinbase’s policy conference in New York via video on Thursday, saying it’s “a really big honor” to be called the “first crypto president.”
“Congratulations to everyone at this exciting time for your industry and in our country’s life,” Trump said, to applause.
Chris LaCivita, the former co-campaign manager of Trump’s successful 2024 presidential bid, joined Coinbase’s advisory council in January.
LaCivita and Plouffe were interviewed Thursday at the policy conference in New York, where they talked about their efforts to court so-called “crypto voters” in November’s elections. Both the Harris and Trump teams viewed the group as new bloc of potential swing voters who were up for grabs, and worked to court them. Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad said the company met with both campaign to sell them on the potential.
LaCivita said Trump - who had once been a crypto skeptic - quickly came around, with the help of input from his sons Barron Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
“The newness of it I think was exciting, from the president’s standpoint,” said LaCivita. “It didn’t take really a lot.”
The campaign, he said, also saw an opportunity to engage with a swath of voters who may not have been actively engaged with politics in the past, including Black and younger voters, with whom the Republican Party has struggled in the past.
“It gave us an opportunity to establish common ground with an area and a demographic that we need expand in in order to be successful,” he said. “This was one of those just great growth opportunities in politics,” which he said are “few and far between.”
Plouffe said the Harris campaign had reached the same conclusion and argued the group is only growing.
“The folks who own crypto are pretty politically competitive,” he said. “These are not MAGA voters. They are swing voters. Lean a little Democratic, certainly lean a lot younger.”
Both were also bullish on their party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections. Plouffe stressed the party out of power generally has an edge. He acknowledged that the Democratic Party “has a lot of work to do on it’s brand” after their disappointing finish last year, but said he hoped “that’s going to come from the people who run and from the grassroots together.”
LaCivita said the goal for Trump would be to demonstrate to voters that he is delivering on his campaign promises.
Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat-turned-independent from Arizona, also joined the council, which consists of a number of other high-profile figures from both major political parties.
Plouffe previously served on the global advisory board for Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, before joining Harris’ presidential campaign as a senior adviser in August.
Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, described the role of the advisers as being a “sound board” to discuss policy efforts and business strategy.
In Congress, legislation is advancing far more quickly than usual for a new industry - a pace that some involved in shaping the bills say comes amid an all-out pressure campaign from the cryptocurrency sector.
On Wednesday, a group of Democrats joined the Republican majority to advance legislation regulating stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. Final passage through the Senate could come next week.
Meanwhile, a more sweeping bill to implement cryptocurrency market structure has begun moving through House committees.
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Cappelletti reported from Washington.
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