“We managed to shine a spotlight on our big tent and show that crypto isn't just about the loudest MAGA crypto folks you see online,” G. Clay Miller, one of the organizers, told CoinDesk in an interview. (Miller, a former Senate staffer, works in the crypto industry for a major digital asset advisory firm but says his political activism is separate.)
Miller said 15,000 people registered before the town hall meeting, with 1,000 in attendance at any one time.
The organizers' main goal was to show the outside world that Democrats are interested in making crypto a reality, despite the Biden administration's record, and to send a “loud message” to the Harris campaign that the crypto community is paying attention to what the vice president says or doesn't say on the issue. Miller said campaign staff listened to the speech and were impressed with what they heard.
The big question is what it will take for Democrats to prove to crypto stakeholders that they are serious about a “policy reset.” At this stage, it is unclear exactly what Schumer’s bill would include, but a bipartisan agreement at the very least seems possible.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee and the leading voice on cryptocurrency legislation this Congress, tweeted his support for Schumer this morning.
