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Crypto companies are dumping big money into the U.S. presidential election – more than even giant conglomerates. In its latest report, Public Citizen, a progressive non-profit consumer rights advocacy group and think tank, revealed that crypto corporations have injected more than $119 million into U.S. elections this year.
Much of this funding has been funneled into a non-partisan super PAC (Political Action Committee) focused on electing pro-crypto candidates and defeating those skeptical of the industry. In comparison, Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company in the U.S., ranks second in election contributions. The conglomerate, controlled by Charles Koch and formerly by the late David Koch, contributed $25 million to its Americans for Prosperity Action PAC and an additional $3.25 million to support Republican congressional candidates.
According to the report, crypto corporations have emerged as the dominant corporate political spenders in 2024, contributing nearly half of all corporate donations in this year’s elections. So far, a staggering portion of the $248 million in corporate funding has come from the crypto industry, per Public Citizen.
Why crypto industry donations increased this year
The big donations are due to crypto becoming increasingly political this election year. Former President Donald Trump is accepting campaign donations in Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Solana, and others and has declared himself a “crypto candidate.” His position on cryptocurrency represents a significant reversal from a few years ago, when he denounced Bitcoin as “a scam against the U.S. dollar.” Now Trump says he is “good” with crypto. Following that, some Democrats, historically wary of cryptocurrency, are now showing some support, distancing themselves from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s stance. Meanwhile, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is catching up on crypto, too.
As political attitudes toward cryptocurrencies change, the crypto industry is hopeful its fortunes will improve following the election. That’s why people and groups tied to crypto companies, such as Coinbase, Gemini, and others, are contributing millions of dollars to political campaigns and other groups. Disgraced crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried previously donated millions of dollars to Democrats when he was celebrated as a crypto poster boy.
Blame Citizen United ruling for this
The 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission by the U.S. Supreme Court is infamous for removing restrictions on corporate political spending, leading to the emergence of super PACs.
Although the ruling specifically addressed Citizens United, the nonprofit organization that initiated the lawsuit, its implications were quickly and indiscriminately extended to for-profit corporations as well. This sweeping interpretation allowed corporations of all kinds to wield unprecedented influence in political campaigns, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of American elections.
“That cryptocurrency companies like Coinbase COIN-0.91% and Ripple are able to spend over a hundred million dollars to silence crypto’s critics and elevate its backers embodies everything that is wrong with the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision,” said Rick Claypool, a research director in Public Citizen’s president’s office and author of the report.
“Corporations can’t vote. But the sole reason crypto is a hot-button topic in this election cycle is that crypto businesses are spending eye-popping sums to make themselves impossible to ignore,” Claypool stated.
He further noted in the report that both Coinbase and Ripple are currently battling securities fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Since the Citizens United ruling, crypto corporations have become the second-largest election-related corporate spenders, following only fossil fuel companies, according to the report. Over the past 14 years, fossil fuel corporations have spent $176 million, with Koch Industries contributing $73 million.