Cryptocurrency may have just gotten the political backing it needs to gain a foothold in American policy.
Crypto nonprofit, Stand with Crypto, announced the launch of a new political action committee (PAC) on Friday to focus fundraising efforts for crypto-friendly politicians. It is now endorsing a bipartisan grouping of candidates running for position in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The PAC is 440,000 members strong, and joins a concentrated push from the cryptocurrency industry to put more candidates in office who are open to both cryptocurrency and blockchain initiatives.
Crypto super PACs Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, and Protect Progress have raised over USD$110 million this election cycle, records from the Federal Election Commission show.
This involvement in this year’s elections coincides with increased scrutiny on the industry following the conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried last year for stealing from customers. Prosecutors claim he donated more than USD$100 million to U.S. political campaigns using those stolen funds.
“The goal is to endorse candidates and support candidates that are protecting the rights of our advocates of Stand With Crypto throughout November,” said Nick Carr, chief strategist at Stand With Crypto.
PACs like Stand With Crypto typically gather funds for candidates or political causes. They differ from super PACs, which can accept unlimited donation sizes but cannot directly coordinate with campaigns.
Endorsements from these PACs include Jim Banks, a Republican Senate candidate in Indiana; Jim Justice, a Republican Senate candidate in West Virginia; Shomari Figures, a Democrat running for Alabama’s Second District; Eddy Morales, a Democrat running for Oregon’s Third District; and Troy Downing, a Republican running for Montana’s Second District.
🇺🇸🛡️ The Stand With Crypto PAC 🛡️🇺🇸
Today, we reveal the next step in our movement – a Political Action Committee to directly engage with candidates who support the crypto community.
To accompany this, we have launched two new features on https://t.co/FAvYNzkmox.
1.… pic.twitter.com/orzYkygvfr
— Stand With Crypto🛡️ (@standwithcrypto) May 10, 2024
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The cryptocurrency industry indicates that it is actively participating in this election cycle.
The crypto super PAC Defend American Jobs declared victory after four of its endorsed candidates triumphed in their Indiana primaries on Tuesday, including Banks and Mark Messmer, a Republican running to represent the state’s Eighth District.
Reports from March indicated that crypto-focused super PACs spent at least USD$13 million on the Super Tuesday primary contests on March 5 in Texas, California, and Alabama.
Since launching, the crypto advocacy group has hosted a forum for U.S. presidential candidates—before Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican Party nominee—and has campaigned for D.C. lawmakers to endorse crypto-friendly legislation. The project assigns grades from A to F to lawmakers running in 2024, recommending candidates such as Republican Bernie Moreno for Ohio’s Senate race and Democrat Shomari Figures for one of Alabama’s congressional seats.
The Massachusetts Senate seat presently occupied by anti-crypto incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Warren is among those targeted by the PAC. Republican John Deaton, an attorney and crypto advocate, is set to provide a pro-crypto counterpoint to Warren’s staunch views.
According to Federal Election Commission rules, individuals can donate no more than $5,000 to a PAC, potentially allowing Stand With Crypto to gather up to $2.2 billion with its current membership. In contrast, Super PACs may receive unlimited contributions from corporations.
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