Crypto Goes Big On US Elections 🎈
Crypto firms contributed 48% of all corporate political donations in 2024. Trump teases crypto project. Kamala Harris advisor says VP open to crypto. McDonald's instagram hacked to promote memecoin.
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The cryptocurrency industry has spent $119 million on the 2024 election cycle, making it the dominant corporate political spender this year, according to Public Citizen.
This accounts for 48% of all corporate election contributions, trailing only the fossil fuel industry in total spending since 2010.
Since 2010, only the fossil fuel industry has outspent crypto companies, donating $162 million to fossil fuel-friendly politicians.
Over the past three election cycles, crypto companies have spent $129 million, accounting for 15% of all corporate contributions since the 2010 Citizens United ruling.
Most contributions are directed to the Fairshake super PAC, which supports pro-crypto candidates and opposes crypto skeptics.
The PAC has raised $203 million, with $107.9 million from crypto companies.
Fairshake's backing has led to victories in 36 out of 42 primary campaigns supported by crypto funds.
Read: Crypto's $200M Election War Chest 🪖
Super PAC influence: Most contributions have gone to the Fairshake super PAC, which received nearly $114 million, primarily from Coinbase and Ripple.
Influential supporters: Additional funding for Fairshake comes from prominent tech and crypto figures, such as the Winklevoss twins and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
Criticism and concerns
Public Citizen criticised the crypto industry's spending as a "brazen and unprecedented" attempt to prioritise corporate interests over public welfare.
The group is suing Coinbase and Fairshake for alleged election law violations.
Public Citizen report
“The even partisan split in both houses of Congress means the crypto sector’s outsized influence in competitive races has the potential to tip control of Congress one way or the other.
No industry has ever before has [sic] so wholeheartedly embraced raising as much directly from corporations and openly using that political war chest as a looming threat (or reward) to discipline lawmakers toward adopting an industry’s preferred policies.”
The crypto sector's aggressive political spending raises concerns about the potential erosion of democratic processes and the risk of other industries following suit.
Public Citizen advocates for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, aiming to restore democratic integrity and reduce corporate influence in elections.
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Former president, and the Republican nominee, Donald Trump
“For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites.”
What happened here? Trump’s promotion of an upcoming family crypto project called ‘The DeFiant Ones’ to his 7.57 million followers on Truth Social.
Re-tweeted by Donald Trump Jr. to his 12 million X followers.
Family involvement: Trump's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., teased a significant crypto announcement, suggesting the project might involve digital real estate or tokenisation of real-world assets.
Telegram channel: For the project, "The DeFiant Ones," has 25,000 subscribers and promises future updates, though it has only posted once since its creation.
Previous controversy: A meme coin named Restore the Republic (RTR) falsely claimed association with the Trump family, leading to a rapid rise and fall in its market value. Eric and Donald Jr. denied any ties to the project.
Eric Trump's comments: Eric Trump described the project as "digital real estate," with potential to disrupt banking by providing equitable access to collateral and financial services.
The Trumps are all in it together 🤦♀️
Kamala Harris Advisor Says VP Open to Crypto
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris plans to support policies that promote the growth of the cryptocurrency industry, according to her senior policy advisor, Brian Nelson.
Policy goals: Harris aims to ensure that emerging technologies and industries, like cryptocurrency, have the opportunity to grow under her administration.
Crypto stance uncertain: Harris has not publicly commented on cryptocurrency, and her financial disclosures show no personal investment in the sector.
Her stance on crypto remains unclear, with her campaign suggesting a possible shift from the Biden administration's adversarial approach.
Tech industry ties: Harris has strong connections to the tech industry, seen as favourable by Silicon Valley, but she declined to attend a Bitcoin conference headlined by Donald Trump.
Staffing choices: Harris has hired advisers with mixed views on crypto, including Brian Deese and Bharat Ramamurti, both of whom have been involved in crypto regulation.
She also hired David Plouffe, a former Binance adviser, and Brian Nelson, known for his thoughtful approach to the industry.
Democratic platform: The Democratic Party's official platform did not mention crypto, in contrast to the Republican platform, which supports the industry.
Potential treasury secretary: Reports suggested Harris might consider SEC Chair Gary Gensler for Treasury secretary, causing concern in the crypto community, though other candidates like Lael Brainard and Gina Raimondo are also being considered.
Read: The Ghost Of Gary Gensler 👻
In The Numbers 🔢
$1 billion
The cumulative net inflows for BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) surpassed $1 billion in cumulative net inflows.
The leading Ethereum ETF choice for investors.ETHA launched in late July alongside seven other Ethereum ETFs but has significantly outperformed its competitors.
Fidelity's Ethereum Fund, the closest competitor, has $367 million in inflows.
Bitwise's Ethereum ETF with $310 million.
Grayscale's Ethereum Mini Trust with $227 million.
Combined, these three funds account for around $900 million
Still less than ETHA's individual inflows.
While ETHA's growth is notable, it hasn't matched the rapid success of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF, which reached $1 billion in inflows within five days.
Overall, Ethereum ETFs have seen net outflows of $440 million, led by Grayscale's Ethereum Trust with $2.4 billion in outflows since its conversion from a closed-end fund.
McDonald's Insta Hacked to Promote Memecoin
On August 21, hackers compromised McDonald's official Instagram account to promote a fraudulent memecoin called "Grimace," themed after the chain's mascot.
The scam was falsely presented as a legitimate experiment on the Solana blockchain, reaching McDonald's 5.1 million followers.
Hackers used the Solana memecoin deployer Pump.fun to acquire 75% of the Grimace token's supply, distributing it across about 100 wallets.
The token's market cap surged to $25 million within 30 minutes but crashed when the hackers sold their holdings, netting $700,000 in Solana.
The hackers changed McDonald's Instagram bio to brag about their success.
McDonald's regained control of the account, removed the fraudulent posts, and apologised for the incident, describing it as an "isolated incident."
The Surfer 🏄
German regulators have seized €250,000 (about $279,000) in cash and closed 13 unauthorised crypto ATMs over money laundering concerns, amid global regulatory scrutiny.
El Salvador is enhancing its crypto leadership by launching a Bitcoin training program for 80,000 public servants, aiming to boost crypto-literacy and integrate Bitcoin into the economy.
Indian crypto exchange WazirX canceled all open orders and returned assets to users' balances in efforts to resolve issues following a $230 million hack in July. Exchange plans to undo trades post-attack to maintain platform integrity.
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Imagine if all political donation had to be made in dogecoin-debates would be a lot more colourful with meme currency flying around!...