Democrat Ro Khanna, on a panel at Bitcoin MENA 2024, said being against Bitcoin is akin to rejecting other widely adopted technologies.

He said Bitcoin represents freedom and cannot be ignored by a party claiming to champion the future. He noted that in places under authoritarian rule or experiencing rapid inflation, Bitcoin can serve as a means of transacting or storing value, and he said his party should support American leadership in the sector.

Left-leaning Bitcoin podcast, The Progressive Bitcoiner, commented,

“A leading progressive democrat in Congress is saying it’s silly for the Democrats to be against Bitcoin, and that Bitcoin is freedom.

You awake yet DNC?

This is a winning, and good, message, for all Americans.”

The comments come weeks after Donald Trump’s November 2024 election win and Bitcoin’s climb past $100,000, a shift that followed several attempts by Democrats to engage the industry late in the campaign cycle.

Harris’s efforts to propose policies that appealed to crypto supporters failed to gain traction before the election, and analysts suggest the party’s slow pivot was insufficient against Trump’s longstanding pro-crypto stance.

A think tank’s report noted that the Democrats’ delayed outreach and lack of specific proposals reduced their credibility among voters who value digital assets. Observers point to the Biden-Harris administration’s previous cautious approach, making it challenging to sway crypto holders who overwhelmingly favored Trump, according to a survey.

Khanna’s remarks signal that some Democrats, especially younger party members, are becoming increasingly frustrated by the party’s reluctance to embrace Bitcoin fully.