Aug 30 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency investors and industry

executives calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to pursue a

softer regulatory stance on the industry are planning to raise

at least $100,000 for the Democratic nominee at a Sept. 13

Washington fundraiser.

The grassroots event is scheduled to take place between the

Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus

conferences, and aims to bring together a diverse group of

donors, the organizers told Reuters. Tickets to the fundraiser

range from $500 to $5,000, said Cleve Mesidor, executive

director of the Blockchain Foundation and one of the organizers.

The event's fundraising goal is small compared to the

hundreds of millions Harris has raked in since becoming the

Democratic presidential candidate in July when President Joe

Biden dropped out of the race. But it is the latest sign that at

least some in the industry are rallying behind her rather than

Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has courted big crypto

donors with friendly policy pledges.

Reuters was first to report the fundraiser.

The organizers include Tiffany Smith, co-chair of the

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Working Group at law firm WilmerHale

and Rahilla Zafar, a crypto founder who has also worked in

artificial intelligence. They are hoping that if elected, Harris

will ease up on crypto after the Securities and Exchange

Commission under Biden cracked down on the sector.

The agency says crypto firms are flouting securities laws,

although the industry disputes that those laws apply to them.

"Why not seize on the first fundraiser -- which there

will be many others -- to actually make a statement about what

crypto is for Democrats as a potentially new administration

contemplates how do they look at this?" said Mesidor.

She said she hopes the event will facilitate conversations

about how a potential Harris administration might encourage

crypto innovation and provide more people of color with access

to capital.

"We wanted to make sure that with the change in the

presidential nominee for the Democrats, that we were supportive

and we came together to help her understand the importance of

this industry," said WilmerHale's Smith.

The group is not affiliated with the Harris campaign, which

did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

A separate group called Crypto4Harris also emerged this

month and plans to throw fundraisers for Harris. The group held

a town hall during which billionaire Mark Cuban and Wall Street

financier Anthony Scaramucci spoke in favor of Harris.

Although Harris has yet to publicly take a stance on crypto,

her campaign staff have met with prominent crypto firms

including Coinbase and Ripple, Reuters previously reported.

Those and other big crypto companies are donating to

pro-crypto candidates in congressional races in both parties via

super political action committees, campaign finance records

show, rather than aligning themselves with either presidential

candidate.

Brian Nelson, a senior adviser for the Harris campaign, said

at an event at the Democratic National Convention this month

that Harris would support the growth of emerging technologies,

which many in the crypto industry saw as a positive sign.

" has this golden opportunity to really lay out a

plan to sway a lot of these voters from the crypto industry,"

said Zafar.