The latest report from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen states that cryptocurrency companies invested more than $119 million in 2024 to influence the U.S. election, citing multiple cases detailing how cryptocurrency companies interfere in political events.
Nearly half of 2024 campaign funds will come from crypto companies
The report writes that cryptocurrency companies donated approximately $119 million to influence U.S. elections this year, becoming the main contributors to corporate political donations in 2024. According to statistics, up to 48% of campaign funds come from crypto companies.
The organization went on to point out that as the largest independent political action committee (PAC) in this election, the crypto lobbying organization Fairshake has received the vast majority of crypto campaign funds, raising as much as $203 million since the third quarter of last year.
Coinbase and Ripple are major donors
Public Citizen’s investigation found that among the donation lists of many crypto supporters, the US exchange Coinbase and payment provider Ripple contributed the most, providing US$50.5 million and US$49 million respectively.
In addition, high-frequency trading company Jump Crypto, stable currency issuer Circle, venture capital firms a16z and Paradigm are also among the major donors:
Among them, Fairshake has received an unprecedented $108 million in financial support from companies including the founders of Coinbase, Ripple and Gemini so far this year.
Previously, SBF, the former CEO of the collapsed exchange FTX, also donated up to US$5.2 million in political donations to the then Democratic candidate Biden during the 2020 US presidential election, and claimed that he would continue to increase his investment in 2024; however, he now He is serving his sentence and is expected to go through six rounds of the US presidential election while in prison.
Unpacking the Crypto Giants’ Engagement Strategies
Public Citizen also broke down how encryption companies and their funds are related to the political field:
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) successfully passed the House of Representatives: it was pushed by Republicans, but Democrats still cast 71 yes votes.
Trump’s 180-degree change in his stance on encryption: He threatened to turn the United States into a “Bitcoin mining power” and declared that Bitcoin would be included in the U.S. strategic reserve assets.
Trump’s choice of Senator JD Vance, who has a venture capital background and crypto-friendly policies, as his running mate is seen as a signal of support for cryptocurrency.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris frequently meets with encryption giants and consults, showing that the encryption industry is putting pressure on the Democratic Party.
The current balance between the two parties in Congress means that the cryptocurrency industry may be able to have a major influence and tilt the control of Congress in one direction.
The strategy works: Crypto-funded candidates frequently report winning news
Interestingly, the encryption industry giants’ strategy of “spending money to participate in politics” seems to be really working.
Public Citizen reported that candidates funded by Fairshake or its affiliates have won 36 of the 42 elections so far, a winning rate of 85.7%.
It is reported that these funds are mainly used for advertising attacks on "encryption-anti" candidates and media purchases supporting "encryption-friendly" candidates.
The organization pointed out that the encryption industry will likely have a significant impact on the election results, the power of the U.S. Senate and the President in this year's fiercely competitive election:
The crypto industry’s use of political money, either as a threat or as a reward, to steer lawmakers toward the industry’s preferred policies is unprecedented in political donations.
This article Spending money to buy seats? Crypto companies contributed more than 48% of political donations this year, and more than 80% of candidates won the primaries. First appeared on Chain News ABMedia.
