Big Crypto is now spending more on US elections than any other industry
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- The crypto industry has injected $119 million into this year's elections, Public Citizen reported.
- Coinbase and Ripple lead contributions to super PACs supporting pro-crypto candidates.
- Candidates view crypto as a key voter issue amid industry scrutiny and federal probes.
The crypto industry is making its mark on this year's elections to the tune of some $119 million.
Crypto companies are one of the biggest political spenders on federal elections by a long shot, accounting for almost half the corporate money contributed to this year's races, according to data from consumer rights advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen.
The funding has largely come from two companies — Coinbase and Ripple — which are funneling money into super PACs like Fairshake PAC, which is dedicated to "elevating pro-crypto candidates and attacking crypto skeptics," according to Public Citizen.
Corporations don't have limits on the amount of money they invest in political candidates after the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling on Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. However, they must contribute those funds to groups not directly involved with a candidate's official campaign.
The crypto industry has especially ramped up spending for the 2024 election, following contributions it made to the 2020 election back when Sam Bankman Fried was still its poster child.
Now, the stakes are higher. "The industry believes this election is existential," Veronica McGregor, chief legal officer at crypto wallet company Exodus, told Wired. "No matter who gets into office, changes need to happen for our industry to thrive like it should."
The money flowing into the presidential election has urged this year's candidates to see crypto as an issue that will turn voters in their favor. It may also be a turning point for an industry that has been criticized for evading laws, and been the subject of federal investigations.
At the 2024 bitcoin conference in Nashville in February, Trump — who called bitcoin "highly volatile and based on thin air" in 2019 — said he'd lay out a plan "to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world." Trump has already won the backing of several crypto enthusiasts, including his running mate JD Vance, who owns at least $250,000 in bitcoin.
Harris, meanwhile, has been more cautious in her support of the industry. "She's going to support policies that ensure that emerging technologies and that sort of industry can continue to grow," one of her campaign advisers told Bloomberg.
Behind the scenes, a new group called Crypto4Harris, spearheaded by PayPal's former head of blockchain strategy, Johnathan Padilla, is working on "developing a nuanced crypto-policy approach for the Harris For President campaign," according to its X page.
Padilla hopes the group can bridge the Democratic Party and the crypto industry, which seems to be rallying around Trump.
"People are angry. People are concerned," Padilla told Wired. "But I think if you have the reset we are talking about with the Harris campaign, you're in a really good spot to have temperatures simmer down."