The cryptocurrency industry has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to spend in the 2024 elections in various House and Senate races across the US And while crypto is often associated with conservatives and especially the views of Donald Trump, it is one of the largest crypto super PACs as well. spending money on Democrats this cycle. And some Republicans aren’t happy about that. I’m not happy at all.
NBC News has a new report about Republican discontent within the crypto community over spending by Democrats. And one group is getting a lot of heat. Fairshake PAC has emerged as one of the most powerful crypto-focused political groups and has already made some gains. For example, the group ran attack ads during the primaries against Katie Porter, a California Democrat who was defeated by Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, who will compete on the ballot this November.
But Fairshake also used money to fund Democrats during the primaries. The group spent $2.7 million to help Shomari Figures win his House primary in Alabama, according to crypto news outlet CoinDesk. The figures are progressive Democrats who support crypto as a technological means of “innovation,” which is probably the most common way Democrats who support pro-crypto policies put it.
A new round of general election financing by Fairshake has drawn scrutiny not generated by primaries in Republican circles. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat running in Arizona, and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat running in Michigan, received commitments of about $3 million each from Fairshake, according to NBC News. As NBC notes, Slotkin has been seen as skeptical of cryptocurrencies until recently and now has an A rating from the non-profit advocacy group Stand With Crypto. Similarly, Gallego was not known as a crypto influencer until recently and now he has a good rating from Stand With Crypto.
None of this sits well with Republicans who see Democrats as the enemy of cryptocurrency’s future. Republicans were quick to embrace crypto as a speculative asset and real money, even if some were skeptical in the earlier days. Donald Trump previously called bitcoin “not money” and complained that it is “very volatile and based on thin air.” But Trump is into crypto now, even if he doesn’t quite understand how it works.
“Republicans are WTF about what’s going on with Fairshake, and I think that’s a very bad omen for the industry, that people are wondering why our biggest trade organization is targeting our friends,” NBC News quoted another anonymous crypto booster as saying. .
And you can understand the confusion from Republicans. Can they rely on people like Gallego and Slotkin who seemed skeptical of crypto until recent months?
Of course, Fairshake still supports a lot of Republicans but he has publicly expressed his intention not to leave the race for president between Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. But time will tell if Fairshake’s gamble in the House and Senate races will pay off for the crypto industry. It seems like a smart bet, based on how things are looking in November. Harris is in for a solid win if recent polls are accurate, and there’s a very good chance he’ll help bring both the House and Senate to Democrats. If that’s the way things really go, the crypto lobby will need friends in positions.
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