With just five months to go until the 2024 U.S. elections, large crypto firms continue to bet big on crypto-friendly candidates who could help the $2 trillion digital asset industry achieve regulatory clarity.
On Monday morning, the U.S.’s biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase, announced a $25 million donation to the pro-crypto super PAC Fairshake, matching recent contributions from crypto payments company Ripple and tech-focused venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Coinbase’s latest donation brings Fairshake’s coffers up to $160 million, placing it in the top five largest super PACs this election cycle.
Fairshake has already spent over $40 million supporting pro-crypto candidates running in key House and Senate races in the hopes that their victories will translate into more friendly policies for companies and individuals looking to do business in crypto in the U.S.
"The best way to get regulatory clarity in democratic countries is to elect pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle, and to vote anti-crypto candidates out of office," said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong in a blog post Monday morning, noting that crypto is a bipartisan issue affecting Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
"We now need to send a strong message in November by electing candidates who represent our values," he added.
Coinbase has been a vociferous advocate for fair crypto policy in Washington D.C., lobbying for inclusive regulatory treatment it feels it has been denied by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who has brought enforcement actions against Coinbase itself and other industry giants like Ripple and Kraken.
Stand with Crypto, the non-profit advocacy group started by Coinbase, which encourages crypto voters to get directly involved in the legislative process, has amassed nearly 950,000 supporters since it launched in August and raised over $87 million through its own political action committee.
The group’s website publishes a database of more than 1,000 politicians with scorecards based on their views on crypto – with ‘A’ being the highest ranking and ‘F’ the lowest. It also provides tools for crypto voters to contact their representatives and donate to pro-crypto candidates.
Stand with Crypto credits the House’s recent passing of the Financial Innovation and Technology (FIT) for the 21st Century Act, a bipartisan bill that establishes a regulatory framework for digital assets, in part to its lobbying efforts.
33 of the 71 Democrats that voted in favor of the FIT legislation were members that met with Stand with Crypto founders, according to the group’s chief strategist, Nick Carr.
One of those 33 Democrats was California Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-California) who touted her vote for the FIT for the 21st Century Act in a letter to her constituents last week, noting that 103 constituents had contacted her to advocate the importance of passing the bill.
While the majority of support for crypto has mostly come from Republicans, "FIT21" passed the House by a vote of 279-136, with 71 Democrats voting in its favor, highlighting growing bipartisan support for digital assets in Congress; an encouraging sign for those hoping that pro-crypto politicians will help propel the industry forward.
"Crypto voters won’t be taken seriously until we send a clear message to political candidates that it is bad politics to be anti-crypto," said Armstrong. "Therefore, the simple conclusion is that we need to support pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle, and unceremoniously vote anti-crypto candidates out of office."
