Cryptocurrency companies accounted for nearly half of all corporate donations during the 2024 presidential election — prompting critics to rage at the industry’s growing influence, according to a report.
Crypto corporations have given more than $119 million in political donations, mostly to a cross-party super PAC focused on electing pro-crypto candidates, according to a report by nonprofit Public Citizen published Wednesday.
Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange platform, was the industry’s largest donor, flooding the PAC with $50.5 million, according to the report.
Blockchain company Ripple came in second, donating $48 million, the report said.
The two crypto giants — both heavily scrutinized by the SEC — contributed 80% of total industry donations.
Crypto investors are hoping pro-crypto candidates from across the political spectrum will win seats in the upcoming election and soften the tough industry regulations imposed by President Joe Biden’s administration.
Even oil companies and banks – usually some of the biggest donors to elections – were beaten by crypto this year.
The 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowed corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to US elections.
Rick Claypool, director of research at Public Citizen and author of the report, told CNBC that the outpouring of crypto donations used to “silence crypto’s critics and elevate its supporters epitomizes everything that is wrong with the disastrous Supreme Court decision of Citizens United’.
The cryptocurrency accounts for 15% of all disclosed contributions made since 2010 – even though the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created just a year earlier.
More than 90% of total corporate crypto donations were made during this election cycle.
Most of the crypto donations went to Fairshake, a bipartisan pro-crypto super PAC focused on electing pro-crypto candidates across the spectrum to office.
Fairshake is one of the top-spending PACs this year, the report said.
Along with major contributions from Coinbase and Ripple, venture firm Andreessen Horowitz donated $47 million and Jump Crypto gave $15 million to the PAC.
Wealthy investors such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and the Winklevoss twins have also donated millions of dollars to crypto PACs, the report said.
Fairshake, along with its two affiliate PACs, has raised about $169 million — and more than 90 percent of the contributions came from large corporations, according to the report.
Fairshake distributed about $75 million in July and still has nearly $120 million to give away before the November election, according to Federal Election Commission filings available to CNBC.
The pro-crypto PAC pledged $25 million to 18 House candidates, split evenly between nine Democrats and nine Republicans, the nonprofit reported.
He has committed $18 million to three Senate races, the report said.
The pro-crypto PAC has won 36 of the 42 primaries it has endorsed — without being vocal about its cryptocurrency focus.
Fairshake-sponsored candidate political ads do not mention crypto at all. Instead, the ads discuss typical political topics—probably because crypto isn’t the number one priority for the average voter.
“The only reason crypto is a hot topic in this election cycle is because crypto businesses are spending impressive amounts to make it impossible to ignore,” Claypool told CNBC.
Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are trying to stake their claim as pro-crypto candidates to win over crypto bigwigs.
Trump has changed his skepticism about crypto since 2019.
This year, Trump launched a collection of non-fungible tokens on the Solana blockchain, became the first major presidential candidate to accept cryptocurrency donations and headlined the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Republican candidate said he had raised $25 million in crypto donations as of late July.
Most recently, he promoted his family’s upcoming cryptocurrency platform called “The DeFiant Ones” in a Truth Social post on Thursday.
Crypto investors appear to have bet on Trump, as shares of Bitcoin and the crypto platform soared after he was shot in an assassination attempt — which voters assumed would help his chances of winning the presidency.
Bitcoin shares surged again after Trump spoke at the Bitcoin conference and promised to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ( DN.Y ) said a “sensible” crypto bill could pass the Senate by the end of the year during a virtual town hall called “Crypto4Harris.”
And on Tuesday, Harris’ campaign said she would support pro-crypto policies as president.