The Joe Biden election campaign has come under heavy fire from the crypto community for an apparent acceptance of digital asset donations.
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is reportedly considering accepting crypto donations via Coinbase.
On June 12, The Block reported that Biden’s team was attempting to engage crypto-focused voters in response to rival candidate Donald Trump’s endorsing of the industry and acceptance of crypto donations.
According to the report, the Biden team is in discussion with Coinbase Commerce, a payment service enabling merchants to accept crypto which has already facilitated such donations for the Trump campaign.
Sources told the outlet that “They’re paying attention to issues around crypto and are trying to find quick wins to show that they’re supportive of the industry” because they want to “show that they’re not the enemy.”
Crypto Community Reacts
The move has caused quite a stir within crypto industry circles where the irony was not lost. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Biden Administration sued Coinbase in June 2023 for offering unregistered securities.
“So, the Biden administration and the SEC spend years trying to crush crypto and even sue Coinbase…But now, they’re scrambling to set up crypto donations through Coinbase?” said Crypto Capital Venture founder Dan Gambardello, who added:
“Wow, they really do think Americans are stupid.”
Meanwhile, Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano called it a “Clown world” stating “Biden wants to accept crypto donations yet his SEC buddies are suing the biggest U.S-based crypto companies (Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap Labs).”
On June 13, Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter posted a list of all the actions the Biden administration has taken in its war on crypto before stating:
“And they have the absolute temerity to think we’re gonna donate crypto to the campaign?”
Crypto litigator Joe Carlasare also saw the irony, saying that “Biden’s SEC is suing Coinbase in federal court arguing it doesn’t have a right to exist as an exchange. At the same time, the Biden campaign is preparing to accept crypto donations via Coinbase.”
Trump Building a Crypto Support Base
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been strengthening his ties to the industry, using it as leverage over his anti-crypto rival.
On June 12, he said that “Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a CBDC” before adding that “Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left.”
“We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be made in the USA,” he declared.