Cryptocurrency The companies have raised more than $160 million that they plan to use to support political candidates who support the industry, and experts indicate that these funds will likely benefit Republicans.
Just under $25 million was spent by cryptocurrency companies last year on government relations, and another $5.6 million was spent in the first quarter of 2024. Experts say the sum is expected to rise sharply this year, and Republicans are likely to benefit.
"Trump's embrace and adoption of cryptocurrencies stands in stark contrast to the overwhelmingly regressive approach to cryptocurrencies taken by the Biden administration and the broader Democratic Party, which has consistently attacked the industry, in most cases unfairly," said Edward Wilson of Nansen, a blockchain firm. explainedโThe cryptocurrency issue is likely to and may even influence the election. This is because many US-based crypto supporters see crypto as a key issue for them and are fed up with the go-after-the-good-actors approach in the space.โ
โRepublicans are likely to receive significantly more cryptocurrency donations โ but it is difficult to determine how much โ than Democrats,โ Wilson added, also warning that crackdowns on cryptocurrencies threaten to push the industry overseas to other countries.
The news comes as former President Donald Trump has become increasingly vocal about his support of the cryptocurrency industry. โI will end Joe Biden's war on cryptocurrencies,โ Trump said at a recent rally, adding that his administration โwill ensure that the future of cryptocurrencies and the future of Bitcoin are made in America.โ Trump also recently announced that his campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrencies.
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The former president's support for the industry coincides with broader acceptance of cryptocurrency tokens, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. approving ETFs for Bitcoin in January.
The decisive moment preceded a drastic increase in the price of not only Bitcoin, which reached a new all-time high of just under $74,000but for crypto tokens across the board, ranging from smart contract tokens like Ethereum to the so-called โmemecoinsโ like โdog hat.โ
But it's not just Trump who has embraced the cryptocurrency industry. Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Ohio, has also spoken out in favor of the industry. โOur founding fathers would have been bitcoiners,โ said Moreno, who is facing incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown. "They believed in the decentralization of power and control."
Moreno also expressed doubt that Democrats could turn a corner on the issue. โThe energy of the Democratic Party is controlled by extremists like Brown and Elizabeth Warren,โ Moreno said. "Word has spread in the industry that if given four or more years of control, cryptocurrencies in the United States will be completely dead."
However, not everyone is convinced that the cryptocurrency industry's increased involvement in politics will necessarily benefit Republicans across the country.
"It is unclear whether cryptocurrencies will be able to influence elections across the country or in close races involving powerful members of Congress, such as Sherrod Brown's battle for re-election in Ohio," explained Christopher Devine, a political scientist at the University of Dayton.
"It's worth noting that the cryptocurrency industry donated roughly the same amount to both parties in 2022," Devine added before saying that "their goals are not particularly partisan or ideological." โThey want to curry favor with the candidate who is most likely to win a seat in the next Congress and potentially be able to vote on legislation that affects their industry.โ
