Categories: U.S. Regulation

Kamala Harris Is Not Directly Accepting Crypto Donations, a PAC Is, Coinbase Says

A Coinbase (COIN) executive appears to have misspoken – or been imprecise – when she said Vice President Kamala Harris is accepting crypto donations. Harris “is accepting donations,” Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said at a Citigroup event Wednesday. Fortune first reported that news. “She’s using Coinbase Commerce now to accept crypto for her campaign.”

But, according to a Coinbase spokesperson, Haas was referring to the Future Forward USA PAC, not her campaign. “Coinbase can confirm that the Future Forward PAC has onboarded with Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto donations,” the spokesperson told CoinDesk.

While the Harris campaign isn’t taking crypto contributions directly, Future Forward USA, is a major source of support for Harris, and the development is, at minimum, possibly a signal that Democrats are warming to cryptocurrencies. Harris’ opponent in the presidential election, Donald Trump, has courted – and won – support from crypto fans and companies. The presidential administration in which Harris serves has been strongly criticized by the industry for what’s viewed as an anti-crypto stance.

Future Forward is a hybrid PAC, first used for President Joe Biden, that can contribute directly to the campaign or pay for independent advertising that’s not coordinated with Harris’ campaign. The Harris’ campaign website does not currently offer ways to donate in crypto, and advocacy group Crypto4Harris told Fortune that it was not aware of the development.

Terron Gold