Regardless of rumors that 2024 Democratic US presidential candidate Kamala Harris will converse at a Bitcoin convention in Nashville this week, David Bailey has confirmed that she won’t be attending.
David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc. and organizer of The Bitcoin Convention, confirmed that the choice comes amid ongoing debate over the Democratic Occasion's stance on bitcoin, crypto and blockchain.
As Bailey reported on Twitter, his crew has been in talks with the Harris marketing campaign a couple of doable look on the convention. Nonetheless, he later introduced that Harris wouldn’t be attending, stating that it was “no shock”.
Bailey recommended that Harris' absence could also be as a result of present administration's strategy to cryptocurrency regulation, which has been perceived as hostile by many within the trade.
The Bitcoin convention organizer additionally raised the problem of Ross Ulbricht's incarceration as a possible stumbling block for Harris' involvement within the crypto group. Ulbricht, the founding father of the darknet market Silk Street, is at present serving a life sentence with out the potential for parole.
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“What can she inform us when she's actively imprisoning builders, pushing our trade abroad, attacking PoW… it could be a catastrophe for her.”
For the sake of transparency, Ulbricht was not jailed below Biden; he was convicted in 2015 when Barrack Obama was president. In 2017, below Donald Trump, he appealed the sentence twice. In 2018, the Supreme Court docket refused to listen to his case.
Bailey argued that commuting Ulbricht's sentence ought to be thought-about “desk stakes” for any politician making an attempt to achieve out to the bitcoin group.
“I’ve to be trustworthy, I really feel like Kamala ought to soften Ross Ulbricht's sentence earlier than addressing the Bitcoin group. These are desk stakes.”
Though Harris is at present the vice chairman and wouldn’t be capable to personally commute Ulbricht's sentence, Bailey gave the impression to be giving an ultimatum a couple of doable invitation. It’s unclear at the moment if this was the explanation Harris didn’t attend the convention or if she refused outright. fromcrypto contacted Bailey for affirmation, however he didn’t reply by press time.
Bailey identified that former President Donald Trump and unbiased presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to commute Ulbricht's sentence if elected. This dedication has been properly obtained by many in crypto. Donald Trump didn’t commute Ulbricht's sentence throughout his first time period by a presidential pardon, however has stated he’ll achieve this this time if elected.
Dialogue of Harris' potential look at The Bitcoin Convention comes at a time when cryptocurrency regulation and adoption have gotten more and more essential political points, with 14% of US residents holding bitcoins. Harris' place on digital belongings stays largely unknown, resulting in hypothesis about whether or not the Harris administration would proceed the strategy of the Biden administration or undertake a extra crypto-friendly stance.
In the meantime, different presidential candidates have been extra vocal of their help for cryptocurrencies. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. he designed the combination of bitcoin into US debt administration methods and owns over $1 million value of bitcoins.
Equally, the Trump marketing campaign lately started accepting donations for varied cryptocurrencies, together with Bitcoin and Ethereum. There are additionally rumors that he would declare Bitcoin a strategic reserve asset, though any president would require approval from Congress.
With Harris absent from the Bitcoin convention, consideration now turns again to Trump and his direct tackle to the Bitcoin viewers.
