Kraken CEO says Biden administration is ‘softening’ on cryptocurrencies.
Kraken CEO Dave Ripley explained in a CNBC interview on Thursday that the Biden administration is ‘softening’ its stance on cryptocurrencies.
“Coming into this year, the administration took a strong negative stance on cryptocurrencies through the SEC,” Ripley said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernan. “But we had a lot of supporters all over the U.S. government. I travel to D.C. regularly and I met a lot of people in Congress and the Senate and we have a lot of supporters there as well. And if you think about the last few years, I don’t know, maybe in a couple of months we’ll have a strong “It gained support, and now it has bipartisan support.”
Ripley nodded to the passage of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21). The bill passed 279-136 on May 22 and aims to comprehensively regulate the cryptocurrency industry.
“We didn’t expect it to be as successful as it was,” Ripley added of the bill’s overwhelming passage. “It was really successful. I think it was 71 votes on the Democratic side as well. So we saw the administration soften up a little bit.”
Trump’s ‘recent’ cryptocurrency journey
Ripley also mentioned former U.S. President Donald Trump’s shift toward cryptocurrency, aligning the new stance with a potential educational “journey” taken by the presumptive Republican nominee.
“Everyone goes on a journey with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. I did too. And I know his comments about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are recent, so I hope he’s on that learning journey,” Ripley said in an interview. . “When individuals actually take the time to learn about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, there is almost always a positive outcome.”
Trump, who previously called Bitcoin a “scam,” launched an NFT collection in April 2023 and even claimed support for the cryptocurrency in late May of this year, The Block previously reported.
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