Donald Trump announces pro-crypto transition team

More crypto parallels between a potential Donald Trump and Kamala Harris administration emerged after assessing their advisors.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump named several pro-crypto figures to his transition team ahead of a possible second White House term. While it’s procedural to name key staff members ahead of an election, Trump’s pro-crypto team may have bolstered his appeal to the community.

Trump announced that Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and America First Policy Institute chair Linda McMahon would be team co-chairs. 

Lutnick is a public Bitcoin supporter and spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, where Trump said he would create a strategic BTC reserve. Also, Cantor Fitzgerald has been Tether’s (USDT) custodian since 2021 and confirmed the firm’s multi-billion balance sheet. In April, shortly before Cantor Fitzgerald unveiled a $2 billion Bitcoin funding initiative, Lutnick also advocated for stablecoins and asset tokenization.

Republican vice president candidate J.D. Vance will serve as an honorary chair. Vance, who tabled pro-crypto policies in the U.S. Senate, was also the first person on a presidential ticket to own Bitcoin.

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are also part of the fray. Both Trump’s sons are working on a crypto project. DTJ has already opened an official Telegram called “The Defiant Ones” to share verified info on the matter. The move aimed to curb scammers leveraging buzz around Trump’s crypto initiative to defraud investors.

Harris’ advisors

Across the aisle, Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris onboarded anti-crypto advisors from president Joe Biden’s administration. According to Bloomberg, Harris is tapping figures like Brian Deese, Bharat Ramamurti, and deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.

Deese is the believed architect of Operation Choke Point 2.0, a plan to de-bank crypto businesses and bulwark digital assets from traditional financial systems. Adeyemo has been crucial to the Treasury’s crackdown on crypto mixers and made legislative requests for stringent policies on blockchain activity in America.

As the industry speculated on advisors and likely appointees, Harris’ radio silence on crypto policies was arguably the chief concern espoused by digital asset proponents.