The 2022 midterm elections will be held in the United States on Nov. 8. Thirty-four senators and all 435 members of the House of Representatives will be running. According to media reports, cryptocurrency lobbyists and political action committees have poured millions of dollars into select campaigns, and extensive polling has shown crypto to be on voters’ minds.
Fundraising and polling are normal parts of the American political system, but the numbers associated with crypto may have raised some eyebrows. Sam Bankman-Fried called $1 billion his “soft ceiling” for 2022 election contributions, for example. Even though he backpedaled on some of his intentions, he remains the sixth-largest donor in this election cycle. There are numerous crypto-related political action committees as well. According to Bloomberg, as of Oct. 19, crypto-affiliated donors had spent more than donors to such traditional recipients as defense and big pharma.
A poll commissioned by Grayscale between Oct. 6 and Oct. 11 shows that 38% of voters surveyed will be “considering crypto policy positions.” A poll commissioned by the Crypto Council for Innovation at roughly the same time showed that 45% of voters “want legislators to treat crypto as a serious and valid part of the economy.”
Why all the excitement?
Crypto is making continual inroads into daily life, even in the current unfavorable market conditions. Nonetheless, someone with some distance from the industry may be surprised to hear that 45% of potential American voters have any opinion about crypto at all.
But, 40 million Americans own crypto, and they take it personally, Cornell Law School faculty member and Foley & Lardner partner Patrick Daugherty told Cointelegraph:
“Does ‘crypto policy’ resonate with voters as much as inflation and other headline news? Probably not, but then again many voters are buying crypto as a hedge against inflation.”
Furthermore, “Crypto is the future of money, which is important to every American,” Daugherty said.
Martin Dobelle, one of the three co-founders of political software company Engage, agreed. “The average person cares more about this issue than you might expect,” he said. Dobelle attributed voter interest in crypto to a generally positive attitude toward technology, especially among the young. He told Cointelegraph:
“Voters are very pro-technology, pro-innovation and they […] might not know the specifics of crypto legislation or tech legislation writ…
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