Cryptocurrency companies have assembled over $160 million that they plan to deploy to support political candidates who support the industry, with experts indicating that these funds will likely benefit Republicans.
Just under $25 million was spent by cryptocurrency companies last year on government relations, with another $5.6 million being spent in the first quarter of 2024. Experts say that the sum is expected to drastically increase this year, with Republicans likely to benefit.
“Trump’s acceptance and embrace of crypto is in stark contrast with the overwhelmingly regressive approach to crypto taken by the Biden administration and the wider Democratic Party, which has constantly attacked the industry, in most cases unfairly,” Edward Wilson of Nansen, a blockchain company, explained. “It is likely that the issue of crypto will influence and may even swing the election. That’s because many US-based crypto supporters place crypto as a key issue for them and are fed up with the approach of going after good actors in the space.”
“It is likely that the Republicans will receive significantly more in crypto donations — but how much is hard to determine — than the Democrats,” Wilson added, also warning that crackdowns on cryptocurrency threaten to push the industry offshore to other countries.
The news comes as former President Donald Trump has become increasingly vocal about his support of the cryptocurrency industry. “I will end Joe Biden’s war on crypto,” Trump said at a recent rally, also adding that his administration “will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of Bitcoin will be made in America.” Trump also recently announced that his campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency.
The former president’s support for the industry coincides with broader acceptance of the cryptocurrency tokens, with the Security and Exchange Commission approving exchange-traded funds for Bitcoin in January.
The watershed moment preceded a drastic surge in price not just for Bitcoin, which reached a new all-time high of just under $74,000, but for crypto tokens across the board, ranging from smart-contract tokens like Ethereum to so-called “memecoins” like “Dogwifhat.”
But it isn’t just Trump who has embraced the cryptocurrency industry. Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for United States Senate in Ohio, has also spoken out in favor of the industry. “Our Founding Fathers would have been bitcoiners,” Moreno, who is facing off against Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown, contended. “They believed in decentralization of power and control.”
Moreno also expressed doubt that Democrats would be able to pivot on the issue. “The energy of the Democratic Party is controlled by the extremists like Brown and Elizabeth Warren,” Moreno asserted. “Word is out to the industry that if they’re given four or more years of control, crypto in America is completely dead.”
Not everyone is convinced that the cryptocurrency industry’s increased involvement in politics will necessarily benefit Republicans across the country, however.
“It’s not clear whether crypto will succeed in influencing elections throughout the country or in close races involving powerful members of Congress such as Sherrod Brown’s battle for re-election in Ohio,” Christopher Devine, a political scientist at the University of Dayton explained.
“It’s worth noting that the cryptocurrency industry donated about equally to both parties in 2022,” Devine added before saying “its goals are not particularly partisan or ideological. They want to curry favor with whichever candidate is most likely to win a seat in the next Congress and potentially be able to vote on legislation affecting their industry.”
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