Crypto companies are pouring money into 2024 election: Public Citizen

As the 2024 U.S. elections reach their home stretch, crypto companies are opening their wallets to try and influence the results.

Nearly half of all the corporate money flowing into the election has come from the crypto industry, according to a report this week from the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen. The sum, approximately $119 million, was raised from a mix of contributors, with Coinbase and Ripple accounting for more than 80% of the donations.

Most of the money is going to super PACs that are backing pro-crypto candidates running for office this year. The industry has faced heightened scrutiny during the Biden administration, and Coinbase and Ripple are two of the biggest players that have been engaged in legal battles with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has tried to exploit the rift between the crypto industry and the Democrats by pitching himself as the pro-crypto choice and even keynoting a major bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last month. But money is flowing into both parties, as the House, Senate and the presidency remain very much up for grabs.

No other sector is keeping up with crypto. That includes oil companies and banks, which have historically been big political contributors.

Since 2010, when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling opened the door for limitless corporate money in U.S. elections, the crypto sector has accounted for 15% of all disclosed contributions. More than 90% of the corporate crypto cash that’s been raised was brought in this election cycle.

Rick Claypool, research director at Public Citizen, who authored the latest report, said the massive money poured in by crypto companies to “silence crypto’s critics and elevate its backers embodies everything that is wrong with the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision.” 

Claypool’s research shows that crypto corporations are second only to fossil fuel conglomerates in total election-related spending since the 2010 ruling.

Fairshake is the most popular of the pro-crypto, bipartisan super PACs. It’s funded by some of the industry’s leading companies and has become one of the top-spending PACs this year.

The majority of the group’s funds can be traced to four sources. Coinbase has contributed $49 million, venture firm Andreessen Horowitz has donated $47 million, Ripple has given $47 million and Jump Crypto put in $15 million. In total, Fairshake and its two affiliated PACs have raised around $169 million, with more than 90% coming directly from corporations.

Other funds have come from a mix of donors. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, for example, gave $1 million, while the Winklevoss twins put in $5 million.

A filing with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday showed that during July, Fairshake disbursed almost $75 million.