If someone expressed the opinion that this year’s US presidential race has produced some unprecedented events, a listener might wonder which particular moment they were referring to, since it has been such a volatile and contentious political period. But besides the incumbent Joe Biden stepping down to be replaced as Democrat nominee by Vice President Kamala Harris, and the staggering scenes when Republican nominee Donald Trump came close to being killed in an assassination attempt, another wild-card insertion into the chain of unfolding events is the extent to which crypto has featured in the run up to the election.
Rewind back to the 2020 contest, and crypto was a fringe presence on the political stage, but now four years later, Trump has made a series of very direct, crypto-related pledges, including plans to use bitcoin as a US strategic reserve asset. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also incorporated bitcoin into his policies, with a reserve asset plan similar to Trump’s, and what’s more, Kennedy has now formally endorsed Trump while stepping down as a candidate in several swing states in order not to impede Trump’s chances of victory.
And when it comes to political funding, this year also breaks new ground, as data curated by non-profit consumer advocates Public Citizen from non-profit research group Open Secrets demonstrates enormous levels of politically-directed crypto industry spending.
Who Has Been Spending, and How Much?
In 2024, companies within the crypto industry have collectively spent around $119 million on political contributions, with almost all of that spending going to crypto-focused super PACs, of which the Fairshake organization has been the primary funding recipient.
Corporation contributions in US elections; Source: Citizen.org
To put that level of spending in context, this has made the crypto industry as a whole this year’s biggest corporate political spender, accounting for a substantial 48% of corporate donations. What’s more, looking at the numbers since 2010, when super PACs first became legally viable (following on from the Citizens United ruling in the Supreme Court), the only sector to have outspent crypto is the fossil fuel industry, which has splashed out over $176 million across the whole of this fourteen year period.
Crypto’s biggest spenders this year are Coinbase and Ripple, both of which have spent around the $50 million mark, while Jump Crypto also stands out with a $15 million spend….
