Crypto spend on election hits $190 million, led by Winklevoss twins

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are the biggest individual crypto donors this election cycle, giving a combined $10.1 million, or slightly over $5 million each, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by crypto market and blockchain analyst James Delmore and independently verified by CNBC.

With 50 days to go until the November general election, political donations from, or in support of, the crypto industry are up to around $190 million, as some of the biggest names in the sector open their digital wallets to help elect candidates sympathetic to their interests.

The Winklevoss twins gave around $1.7 million combined in bitcoin to the Trump 47 Committee, which raises money for Republican former President Donald Trump, over $700,000 combined to the pro-Trump Make America Great Again PAC, $250,000 each to the pro-Trump America PAC, and $4.9 million to the bipartisan pro-crypto Fairshake PAC.

Top executives from blockchain giant Ripple Labs have collectively given more than $3 million to candidate committees and super PACs so far this cycle, with co-founder Chris Larsen donating nearly $2.4 million of that, mostly to help Democratic candidates. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has donated more than $384,000 to multiple PACs and candidates, including to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and John Deaton, a Republican running against Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts. The company’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, gave $300,000 to the Trump 47 Committee.

At a fundraiser for Trump in June, Alderoty explained how Ripple had spent over $100 million litigation to defend itself against civil charges brought by the SEC. The event was held at the San Francisco mansion of venture capitalist David Sacks.

The Winklevoss twins, Coinbase and Ripple didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The month after the San Francisco fundraiser, Trump promised to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler if he were elected, even though U.S. presidents do not have the authority to fire members of independent commissions without cause. While the incoming president could unseat Gensler from his position as chairman, he would remain on as a commissioner until the end of his term.

Under Gensler, the SEC has taken on major industry players, including centralized cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Coinbase.

Executives from the two companies have been spending big this cycle. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has given over $1.3 million to a mix of PACs including Fairshake and JD Vance for Senate Inc., as well as directly to Democrats and Republicans running for both House and the Senate seats. Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal has attended at least two Trump fundraisers, including one in Nashville on the…