According to Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas told Fortune that U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is using the company’s Commerce platform to accept cryptocurrency donations for her campaign.
The statement was made during a conversation with Peter Christiansen, Director of Payments at Citigroup, at the Citi 2024 Global TMT Conference in New York, a recording of which was seen by Fortune.
“She is accepting crypto donations,” Haas reportedly said. “She is now using Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto for her own campaign.”
However, pro-Harris advocacy group Crypto4Harris said it was unaware of the move. Additionally, Harris’ official fundraising site does not yet list crypto donation options. So far, Harris’ campaign and Coinbase have been contacted for comment, but Fortune has not heard back as of this writing.
The “Crypto for Harris” initiative, launched last month, she aims to gain support from crypto enthusiasts as Harris seeks to bolster her presidential bid.
“She has a huge opportunity, we’re cautiously optimistic,” Haas reportedly continued. “She hasn’t released the details yet, but she has hinted that she’d like to push through crypto legislation.”
Harris’ decision to accept cryptocurrency donations is a strategic move to emulate her opponent Donald Trump, who earlier this year embraced Bitcoin Lightning Network donations to his campaign. Trump’s connection to the Bitcoin community was further cemented when he spoke at The Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, an event Harris conspicuously declined to attend.