After funneling hefty sums into the 2024 elections, the crypto industry is poised to wield considerable influence over the incoming government.
The industry spent more than $180 million on campaigns this election cycle, surpassing all other special interest groups, NOTUS’s Claire Heddles reported Tuesday. Lawmakers who ran afoul of the industry’s agenda found themselves targets of aggressive campaigns by crypto-backed PACs. Two hundred seventy-six candidates deemed “pro-crypto” by the group Stand With Crypto will hold seats in the 119th Congress.
Rick Claypool of the consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen told NOTUS that the crypto industry can “use a ton of money to create this crypto-shaped club that they’re holding over candidates, and that changed candidate behavior.”
President-elect Donald Trump, for his part, has transformed from skeptic to friend of crypto. Calling it “a scam against the dollar” and “a disaster waiting to happen” during and soon after his first term, he is now one of its most outspoken advocates, vowing to transform the United States into “the crypto capital of the planet.” His sons have even launched a crypto venture of their own.
A letter to Trump and members of Congress by crypto industry trade group Blockchain Association, shared by Heddles on X, shows that the industry is anticipating reaping the fruits of its 2024 spending.
In the letter, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith proposes regulatory overhauls and changes in leadership at agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and Treasury to support crypto industry growth. “Following a historic election,” Smith wrote, “the crypto industry is hopeful and optimistic for a friendlier regulatory environment in the United States under your leadership.”
The letter underscores, as Senator Elizabeth Warren told NOTUS, that the industry, “like all big-dollar donors who think that their money should buy them a seat at the table,” will be expecting significant returns on its 2024 election investments.
