(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s meeting with deep-pocketed donors at a Bitcoin conference tomorrow is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the renewed prominence of the digital-asset sector in the current political campaign cycle.
Industry donors have poured more money into the 2024 election than in all prior cycles combined, according to tracker OpenSecrets — that’s without even counting all donations from the second quarter. In the 2022 election cycle, crypto exchange operators and their major venture capital backers donated $88 million, a Bloomberg analysis of Federal Election Commission records found. That figure includes donations recipients later disgorged from FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and his colleagues.
After the FTX exchange blew up, and politicians ended up returning Bankman-Fried’s funds, members of Congress shied away from crypto. But as Bitcoin rallied to another record and the coffers of industry participants filled up again, the money began flowing once more, especially to candidates such as Trump, who is seen as fostering a friendlier regulatory environment. The move of traditional finance giants like BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp. into crypto has helped the sector to move past the taint of scandal.
FTX’s collapse “had a huge hit on crypto efforts in Washington,” said Kristin Smith, chief executive officer of crypto industry advocate Blockchain Association. “But that’s also made founders realize they had to take Washington seriously.”
The industry’s push to give money to pro-crypto candidates is just one part of its multi-pronged strategy, Smith said. It’s been funding grassroots efforts, designed to energize pro-crypto voters. And crypto executives have been visiting politicians in Washington and hiring lobbyists to push their agenda in legislation.
Fairshake and two allied super PACs have already raised $170 million this cycle, from the likes of Coinbase Global Inc., Ripple and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. The super PACs are supporting or attacking candidates from both parties based on their positions on cryptocurrency regulation. Fairshake spent $10 million going after Representative Katie Porter of California, a critic of the industry, in an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate.
“Frenzy,” is how lobbyist Todd White, managing partner of Rulon & White Governance Strategies, describes the spending by crypto companies.
“They know if they are not into political contributions within this year, a lot of them may not succeed, at least not in the United States,” White said. “It’s the widest opportunity to gain traction that we’ve really seen in the last four years.”
Ongoing legal cases filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in recent years threaten many crypto businesses’ key revenue streams. Banking regulators are making it hard for some crypto firms to open and maintain US bank accounts. The industry is seeking legislative and executive-branch-led relief to thrive — and many insiders are betting on a change of administration to make that happen.
“A bunch of people who I would describe as normally left leaning Democratic stalwarts in the tech community only had one choice, which is go with the Republicans,” said Austin Campbell, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting.
In recent months, Trump has held meetings with collectors of his nonfungible tokens and with Bitcoin miners, whose computers secure the network. He met with crypto donors at a fundraiser in San Francisco. Attendees said he promised relief, such as support of mining in the US.
Trump is inviting supporters in the cryptocurrency industry to a private fund-raising effort in Nashville on July 27, including an asking price of $844,600 for a seat at a round table. The former president is set to speak on the main stage of the conference the same day.
Presumed Democratic presidential nominee Kalama Harris declined to speak at the event, according to a conference organizer.
BitGo Chief Executive Officer Mike Belshe will host a fundraiser headlined by the Republican nominee’s running mate JD Vance on July 29 in Palo Alto, California, according to an invitation obtained by Bloomberg News. Belshe is asking attendees to pay $3,300 to attend, $15,000 per photo with Vance and $25,000 to participate in a roundtable. For $50,000 couples can join the host committee for the event.
Andreessen Horowitz
Already Elon Musk, who has been promoting Dogecoin, has pledged money to a pro-Trump super PAC. Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who run the venture-capital firm known as a16z, recently pledged their support to Trump, they said in a podcast. Andreessen Horowitz made the donation.
“It’s just a flat out endorsement of the entire space,” Andreessen said in the podcast after reading the Republican platform — with its mention of crypto — that he said Trump wrote himself. “It’s an absolute 180 of what we’ve been experiencing.” Andreessen said he’d previously supported Democrats like Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Horowitz pointed out they could never get a chance to meet Present Joe Biden, while they have met Trump.
Biden announced on July 21 that he wouldn’t seek re-election and pledged his support to Vice President Harris for the Democratic Party nominee.
Crypto donors have also been targeting House and Senate races — particularly trying to unseat Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has long advocated for additional protections to be part of new crypto bills. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the twins who run the Gemini exchange, have contributed to her rival, John Deaton.
“This is the best time to get a respected member as he or she was sitting on the fence on crypto,” White said. “You are placing your contributions where you can gain traction and have some input into the process.”
(Updates to include details on a BitGo fundraiser in the 14th paragraph.)
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