Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to President Biden, met with dozens of crypto leaders in her personal capacity on Wednesday at a roundtable organized by crypto-friendly Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.).
Khanna was also joined by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), as well as billionaire Mark Cuban, who has backed Biden’s bid for reelection but has also criticized his administration’s approach to crypto.
Several people in attendance touted the meeting as “productive” and commended the California Democrat for arranging the roundtable.
“I really give Congressman Khanna a lot of credit for bringing together something like 30 or maybe more industry leaders to have a chance to engage directly with Ms. Dunn and, by extension, the White House,” said Paul Grewal, chief legal officer for crypto exchange Coinbase.
“It was clear that those in attendance understand the importance and opportunity crypto provides,” said Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation.
“I left hopeful about future conversations and even more committed to advocating for the promise of this groundbreaking technology to transform systems,” she added in a statement.
Grewal described the meeting as a “make-or-break moment” for the Biden administration to turn around its “almost uniformly hostile posture” toward crypto, as Republicans and former President Trump embrace the industry.
“We are at a make-or-break moment with Republicans fully embracing crypto, baking it literally into their platform for the upcoming convention in very specific and concrete terms,” he told The Hill. “So, I think the administration has a choice to make at this point.”
Read more in a full report tomorrow at TheHill.com.
