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Cryptocurrency is set to influence US polls
Ryan Selkisa cryptocurrency executive, was dining at Mar-a-Lago last month when he got an unexpected invitation: Former President Donald Trump wanted him to come on stage and say a few words. Selkis, who runs the crypto data company Messari, was among a few hundred attendees at an event celebrating Trump’s series of nonfungible tokens, the digital collectibles known as NFT. When he reached the lectern, Selkis turned to the former president.
“There are 50 million cryptocurrency holders in the United States,” the leader said. “That’s a lot of voters.”
This message has become a political discussion topic in the crypto world, as the industry attempts to shake off a wave of scandals and establish itself as a powerful force in the Elections 2024 Three major cryptocurrency companies have teamed up to fund a group of affiliated super political action committees, investing about $150 million to elect pro-crypto candidates in congressional races.
The PACs do not plan to participate in the presidential election, a spokesperson for the groups said. But top crypto executives have tried to rally the industry behind Trump, who has reciprocated praise digital currencies and host executives at Mar-a-Lago.
Many cryptocurrency advocates see the 2024 election as a pivotal moment. After a string of cryptocurrency companies collapsed two years ago, the Biden administration has launched an aggressive crackdown, filing lawsuits and criminal charges against some of the industry’s most influential figures. The Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing cases that could effectively force the crypto industry outside the United States.
“The 2024 election will be the most consequential in the history of cryptocurrencies,” said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, a cryptocurrency company that has been at odds with the federal government for years. “We’re seeing a technology become a partisan political issue.”
Garlinghouse, Selkis and other leaders argued that the “crypto voters” could influence the outcome of the election. They often cite a survey, commissioned by the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, that suggests 52 million Americans own digital currencies. (The Federal Reserve estimates the total is 7% of the adult population, or about 18 million people.)
But voters’ supposed passion for cryptocurrency may be less important than the industry’s campaign war chest. Ripple, Coinbase and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz have each donated about $50 million to the Cryptographic PACswho plan to spend the funds in several competitive Senate races. In March, the largest PAC, Fairshake, spent about $10 million on attack ads against Rep. Katie Porter, a Democratic candidate in the California Senate primary who is allied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime critic of cryptocurrencies. Porter lost her race.
“A relatively small industry is literally trying to buy enough politicians to hijack the public agenda,” said Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a financial reform advocacy group. “It’s pretty astounding.”
The industry’s vast resources have turned a niche set of issues into a talking point in the presidential campaign. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made his first official campaign appearance at a bitcoin event in Miami, and he has attended numerous industry conferences, sometimes hosting fundraising meetings with wealthy executives on the sidelines.
President Joe Biden has long been seen as a crypto opponent, as his Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has sued numerous crypto companies. But some Biden supporters, including investor Mark Cuban, have pressured his team to restore peace.
The campaign has been receptive to the message, Cuban said in an email. In recent weeks, Biden officials have reached out to Coinbase and Ripple, asking to discuss crypto policy, four people familiar with those discussions said. Still, much of the industry appears to be rallying around Trump. While the former president once said bitcoin “looks like a scam” and has often criticized the tech industry, he has made several pro-crypto comments in the past month, vowing to end regulatory crackdowns. On Tuesday, Trump met at Mar-a-Lago with executives from some of the world’s largest bitcoin mining companies, including Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms.
Bitcoin should be “MADE IN THE USA!!!” he posted on his social network.
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