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Update 5:40 PM ET: Changes headline, Adds details
Crypto corporations – primarily Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Ripple – have poured over $119 million into the 2024 U.S. elections so far, according to a report from consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
According to the report, crypto corporations dominated political spending in 2024, accounting for 48% of the total corporate money contributed so far this year ($248 million so far).
“Money moves the needle,” Coinbase (COIN) boss Brian Armstrong said to Axios last year. “For better or worse, that’s how our system works.”
In June 2024, Ripple president Monica Long told Reuters, “”I think as an industry, especially for us companies based in the U.S., we’re frustrated with how far the U.S. is lagging on setting rules.”
The crypto industry has resurged in 2024 after a series of high-profile bankruptcies in 2022 drew increased regulatory scrutiny and crackdowns.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has jumped over 45% so far this year, handily outperforming the S&P 500’s gain of about 18%.
Several major crypto firms have been sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged securities law violations, including Coinbase (COIN) and Ripple.
The crypto industry has pushed for a bill that would limit the SEC’s oversight of the industry. It has also lobbied for a bill that would create a comprehensive regulatory framework for its assets.
The majority of the donations have been poured into the crypto-focused Fairshake PAC, a super PAC that has raised $202.9 million. Over half of Fairshake’s funding came from corporations that stand to benefit from the PAC’s efforts, the report noted, mostly Coinbase (COIN) and Ripple.
Fairshake describes its mission as supporting leaders “who champion the interests of progressive innovation, including blockchain technology and the crypto industry, through independent advertising efforts.”
The PAC’s supporters include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Armstrong, Cameron Winklevoss, and Tyler Winklevoss.
47% of Fairshake’s funding came from crypto executives and venture capitalists, including $44 million from the founders of Andreessen Horowitz, $5 million from the Winklevoss twins, and $1 million from Armstrong.
Crypto firms’ corporations total spending in the last three election cycles, totaling $129 million, amounts to 15% of all known corporate contributions since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling. 92% of the corporate crypto contributions occurred in 2024.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission struck down certain campaign finance restrictions and allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.
Public Citizen called the surge in crypto firm’s contributions “unprecedented”, adding that crypto firms’ spending is only behind the fossil fuel industry, which has spent $162 million over the past 14 years.