U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said she plans to support a cryptocurrency regulatory framework that gives protections to Black men who invest and own crypto as part of a newly released proposal to help build wealth for Black men.
Less than a month out before the presidential election, Harris released a proposal called the “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” on Monday. Over 20% of Black Americans own or have in the past owned crypto, according to the Harris teams' plan.
“Vice President Harris appreciates the ways in which new technologies can broaden access to banking and financial services,” the campaign team said in the plan. “She will make sure owners of and investors in digital assets benefit from a regulatory framework so that Black men and others who participate in this market are protected.”
As part of the plan, the Democratic presidential candidate also said she would provide one million loans that are fully forgivable up to $20,000 to Black entrepreneurs looking to start a business, launch a health initiative focused on Black men and legalize recreational marijuana.
This isn't Harris' first comment on crypto. Last month, Harris said her administration would encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting consumers and investors, according to her 80-page economic plan. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made his own pledge to end an “unlawful and un-American crackdown” on the U.S. crypto industry and has backed a crypto project called World Liberty Financial.
Nat'l Policy Network WOC Blockchain Founder Cleve Mesidor said she has been fighting for inclusion in crypto and criticized Harris' approach.
“It is perplexing that the Harris-Walz policy team opted not to meet with diverse leaders in crypto, but instead is rolling out a policy that narrowly frames crypto around Black men only and proposes a regulatory framework limiting Black men to consumers instead of producers,” Mesidor said in a statement to The Block.
Mesidor, along with Black Women Blockchain Council Founder Olayinka Odeniran, professor at Penn State Dickinson Law Tonya Evans and others, sent a letter to Harris' campaign team asking for a meeting this month to discuss policy recommendations to push forward innovation and inclusion. That meeting has not yet taken place.
Members of the Harris-Walz team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
