Tech elites are expressing their interests by providing campaign funding to cryptocurrency-friendly candidates, which is influencing the attitudes of American politicians towards crypto assets. Following the initiatives by Trump and Biden to court the crypto community, another US presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has affirmed his support for cryptocurrency during his campaign by purchasing 21 bitcoins as a symbol of his endorsement of crypto as a medium of exchange. The increasing influence of young crypto voters, proactive crypto financial power, and the significant crypto brain trust are factors that contribute to the weight of the crypto industry.
Last week, Ripple announced a $25 million donation to the cryptocurrency super PAC, Fairshake, and a16z also announced a $25 million donation to the same PAC. Fairshake, along with its affiliated PACs, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, has become a major political force in the cryptocurrency industry for the 2024 elections, having raised over $102 million, ranking third among all PACs, according to a report by consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.
In contrast, the Bloomberg report previously stated that the cryptocurrency industry only donated $83 million to the 2020 US elections. Although the 2024 US presidential election is still months away, political donations from the crypto industry have already far surpassed the previous election cycle.
Ripple contributed approximately $50 million to the over $100 million raised by Fairshake. With a16z’s $25 million donation, their total contribution is expected to reach $47 million, while Coinbase donated $23.5 million. Jump Crypto donated $5 million, and Circle and Kraken donated $1 million each. Notable figures in the crypto industry have also made donations, including Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, executives of Winklevoss Capital Management, who donated a total of $5 million. Phil Potter, an executive at Tether and Bitfinex, donated nearly $2 million, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong personally donated $1 million. Additionally, executives from Electric Capital, Multicoin Capital, and Paradigm, including Avichal Garg, Tushar Jain, Kyle Samani, and Matt Huang, made donations ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
Behind the more aggressive crypto political donations is the battle for survival faced by crypto companies due to increasingly stringent regulations from US regulatory agencies. The main force behind crypto donations for the 2024 US elections is a group of institutions that have been most affected by US regulations, including Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken, all of which have faced accusations of violating securities laws. While Kraken chose to accept a $30 million fine to settle, Ripple, Coinbase, and other institutions are still fighting against US regulatory agencies. Ripple recently opposed the SEC’s motion for a $2 billion fine and requested a fine of no more than $10 million. The lawsuit against Coinbase by the SEC for alleged securities law violations is still ongoing.
In addition to obtaining funds through wealthy crypto companies and investment institutions, Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto, a crypto lobbying organization, is launching a PAC for the US elections to raise funds from its 440,000 members to support crypto-friendly politicians. According to its website, Stand With Crypto has raised over $87 million from nearly 900,000 crypto users, with the largest donation of $1 million coming from Moopay.
According to data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks US political funding, several supporters of the crypto industry are among the largest political donors in the US. Jeffrey Yass, co-founder of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), the largest donor, has donated over $70 million between 2023 and 2024. In July 2022, he donated 100 bitcoins (BTC) worth over $1.9 million at the time to the crypto political organization Crypto Freedom PAC, setting a record for the largest bitcoin-denominated political donation recorded by the Federal Election Commission. Other notable donors include Marc Andreessen, co-founder of a16z, who donated over $11 million to the current US presidential election.
It is expected that more crypto donations will emerge. David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, recently announced that his team will raise $100 million to launch a campaign to “ensure that the next US president supports Bitcoin.” With the involvement of PACs like Fairshake and Stand With Crypto, the influence of crypto in the US elections is expected to continue growing.
According to a report by Public Citizen, in the six primaries of the 2024 elections in which the wealthiest crypto PAC, Fairshake, and its affiliated PACs were involved, the success rate of crypto-supported candidates was over 80%. Only one crypto-supported candidate, Katie Porter, failed in her bid for the California Senate, with Fairshake spending $10 million on advertisements against her. In the coming months, Fairshake and its affiliated PACs will support an additional 11 candidates in party primaries, with some candidates already receiving over $3 million in support. Fairshake has also pledged to invest in Senate campaigns in battleground states like Ohio and Montana, which is crucial for securing a majority in the Senate.
Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto also uses its fundraising funds to host crypto events that allow for close interaction with candidates for the 2024 US presidential election and to promote crypto-friendly ideas. In December 2023, Republican candidates Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as Democrat Dean Phillips, participated in the Stand With Crypto event to engage with the crypto industry and interact with crypto media outlet CoinDesk.
In addition to their financial power, some crypto organizations or individuals also serve as important advisors to candidates, influencing US elections and future crypto policies. Trump’s recent shift in attitude towards crypto, such as his remarks on “ensuring the future of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin in the US,” supporting crypto acceptance and pardoning Silk Road founder, was made possible with professional crypto advice from David Bailey’s team at Bitcoin Magazine.
Bailey revealed that his team has been providing advice for Trump’s campaign to develop crypto-friendly policies. Bailey also mentioned an executive order submitted to Trump, which will be signed on his first day back in power, with a focus on cryptocurrency issues, but no further details were provided. In response to Trump’s crypto initiatives, Biden’s campaign team has also been actively seeking crypto experts, including those previously opposed to Biden’s stance on crypto, to guide their crypto policies, according to The Block.
In conclusion, the 180-degree reversal of the SEC’s stance on Ethereum ETF, as well as the unusual support for crypto by candidates like Trump and Biden, demonstrates that crypto has become an unprecedented important factor in the US elections. With the growing power of crypto super PACs, the efforts of crypto companies to change the unfavorable regulatory environment, and the involvement of professional crypto teams in campaign teams, the influence of crypto on the US elections is expected to continue expanding.
