Crypto companies poured $135m into US elections – what did they get for it?

 

 

 Blake Montgomery

Quite a lot, it seems. In 48 races that saw donations by cryptocurrency’s biggest Pac, Fairshake, every candidate backed by the industry has won, Bloomberg reports. More than 60% of that cash supported Republicans or opposed Democrats, per Bloomberg.

The industry placed its biggest bet in Ohio, where Republican Bernie Moreno faced off against popular incumbent Democratic senator Sherrod Brown. Moreno received $40m from cryptocurrency companies. Brown chaired the Senate banking committee and wanted tighter regulation on digital currency. Earlier this year, crypto companies spent $10m to attack Katie Porter, a proponent for more stringent cryptocurrency laws, in the California senate primary. Porter lost. Protect Progress, another pro-crypto Pac, spent $10m each on Senate races in Arizona and Michigan where crypto wasn’t much of an issue. Both its favored candidates had voted in support of the industry on key bills, though.

In addition to the long-term benefits of a friendly, less restrictive regulatory environment, the crypto industry has made immediate financial gains. Bitcoin is trading at record highs, breaking $75,000 late Tuesday night.

Fairshake did not make a contribution in the presidential race but stands to benefit from its outcome anyway. Trump sells his own cryptocurrency now and supports the industry with his full throat, reversing his position on crypto from his first term. Musk has acted as a hype man for cryptocurrency, particularly Dogecoin, years before it was popular. (Harris neither embraced nor rejected the crypto.)

Musk especially seems amenable to one of crypto’s highest priorities – the firing of Gary Gensler, the securities and exchange chair.

 Coinbase, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, gave Fairshake $25m. Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, wrote the day after the US election: “DC received a clear message that being anti-crypto is a good way to end your career.” He may be right. The industry is second in political contributions only to fossil fuel companies, according to the consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen.

GUARDIAN