Deputy Treasury Secretary, former Harris chief of staff among attendees at Democrats’ virtual crypto summit

Top government officials, including Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Kamala Harris’ former chief of staff Kristine Lucius, attended the virtual crypto meeting hosted by Congressman Ro Khanna on Aug. 8, Fox News’ Eleanor Terret reported.

White House advisor Anita Dunn, National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard, and Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed were expected to attend. However, Terret revealed that Dunn was absent despite being involved in a similar meeting previously.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban and Silicon Valley “super angel” investor Ron Conway, along with other unnamed industry leaders, attended the meeting.

Details of the meeting have not been disclosed as of press time, and the reported participants have yet to make any public statements on the matter.

The meeting is part of a broad effort to make Harris’ campaign more crypto-friendly. Democrats have launched a new advocacy group called “Crypto for Harris” to counter former President Donald Trump’s growing influence within the industry.

The group also plans to host a virtual town hall meeting next week and will be attended by notable names in the industry, including Cuban and SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci. Several Democrat lawmakers are also expected to make an appearance.

Jonathan Padilla, CEO of Web3 marketing firm Snickerdoodle and one of the organizers of Crypto for Harris said:

“The United States must continue to be a leader in blockchain and crypto. Groups like Crypto for Harris are working hard to ensure the right policies and conversations take place to ensure that outcome.”

The event aims to present Harris as a pro-crypto candidate, countering  Trump’s efforts to capture the crypto community’s support. Other efforts include adding former crypto advisers David Plouffe and Gene Sperling to her campaign.

Trump has been making pro-crypto remarks since May after he opened up for Bitcoin (BTC) donations to his campaign. Since then, the US presidential candidate vowed to end the current administration’s crusade against crypto and doubled down on these claims.

Additionally, he promised to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Day 1 and to make the US a “superpower” of Bitcoin if elected during this year’s Bitcoin Conference in Nashville. 

Despite Trump’s odds of winning the election reaching 72% on the Polygon-based prediction market Polymarket on July 16, it has been on a decline since then. At the time of writing, both Harris’ and Trump’s odds are tied at 49%.

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