Coinbase’s lobbying group, Stand With Crypto, has retracted its classification of Kamala Harris as “supports crypto” on its website and announced that it has revised its scoring system for politicians in response to strong criticism. The group, which evaluates politicians based on their public comments regarding cryptocurrency, initially gave Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, a “B” grade, indicating that she “supports crypto.” The group cited a recent statement by Harris as the reason for the score. However, the group changed its stance the following day, stating that there is insufficient information about Harris’ position on crypto.
In a blog post on September 25, Stand With Crypto’s executive director, Logan Dobson, addressed the backlash and explained the group’s updated scoring methodology. He stated that it will now be more challenging for politicians to receive a grade on the scorecard, as the group believes it is necessary to require more statements and details before assigning a grade.
Despite the update, some individuals felt that it did not go far enough. Wayne Vaughan, the founder of Tierion, suggested that Harris’ score should reflect her lack of support for crypto, claiming that she has presided over an administration that is hostile to the industry. Prior to the revision of Stand With Crypto’s scoring, others had also criticized the group for characterizing Harris’ support of crypto based on a single vague statement she made during her election campaign.
Meanwhile, Stand With Crypto labeled Harris’ Republican rival, Donald Trump, as “strongly supports crypto.” They credited him for his social media posts promoting his non-fungible token collections and news reports about his crypto earnings. The group only acknowledged one negative comment from Trump in which he criticized the value of Bitcoin in 2019, but they did not mention his subsequent negative remarks about cryptocurrency in 2021.
In conclusion, Coinbase’s lobbying group, Stand With Crypto, has faced criticism and subsequently modified its scoring system for politicians’ support of crypto. The group retracted its initial classification of Kamala Harris as “supports crypto” and now states that there is insufficient information about her stance on the matter. The group’s update, however, has not satisfied all critics. Furthermore, the group has labeled Donald Trump as a supporter of crypto, despite some of his negative comments about the industry.