Mark Cuban says business leaders are warming to the prospect that Kamala Harris might be a stronger advocate for crypto and other emerging tech sectors than her predecessor, if elected.

“The feedback I’m getting, but certainly not confirmed by the VP, is that she will be far more open to business, [artificial intelligence], crypto and government as a service,” the billionaire and noted Bitcoin enthusiast said Tuesday, according to a report in Politico. 

While Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has never publicly shared her thoughts on crypto, the previously San Francisco-based politician is widely seen as more connected to Silicon Valley and tech industry interests than President Joe Biden.

Whether Harris can get tech leaders to come around to her candidacy is another question. In the weeks before Biden finally withdrew from the presidential race due to concerns about his age, former president Donald Trump aggressively courted—and won the approval of—many tech leaders, including a substantial number of prominent crypto executives.

But industry advocates appear cautiously optimistic that a Harris presidency could offer a break from the anti-crypto policies of the Biden administration, and a breakthrough to some sort of bipartisan consensus on creating a regulatory framework for digital assets. 

On Monday, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a crypto lobbying group, sent a letter to Harris imploring her to embrace the industry and choose a running mate with strong pro-crypto bona fides. 

“There is a public perception that the party holds a negative viewpoint of digital assets, largely due to the Biden/Harris Administration's notably cautious and at times hostile approach to these transformative technologies,” the group said. “Your expected candidacy for President represents an opportunity to change that perception.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward