The cryptocurrency industry has poured millions of dollars into electioneering efforts this election season, and the bet already seems to be paying off. On Super Tuesday, where voters in 16 states and 2 territories went to the polls, crypto’s boosters collected their first big wins of the cycle, especially in the contested Democratic field for the open U.S. Senate seat in California.
Major players in the crypto industry reportedly poured $78 million into Super PACs this cycle, including groups called Fairshake, Protect Progress, and Defend American Jobs.
In California, Fairshake spent around $10 million running ads opposing Rep. Katie Porter, who is running to replace the late Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat. Porter got an “F” grade from the Coinbase-backed group, Stand for Crypto, which assesses candidates’ stances on crpyto. Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Schiff got an “A.”
In California’s open primary, where the top two candidates advanced, Schiff won the lion’s share of the Democratic vote while Porter came in third place behind Republican hopeful and former baseball star, Steve Garvey. Schiff took 33% of the vote, Garvey won 32%, and Porter lagged with only 13%. (Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee came in fourth with 7% of the vote, suggesting the total Democratic bloc will be enough to eventually send Schiff to the Senate.)
Elsewhere in the state, the incumbent Republican congresswoman Young Kim, who Fairshake supported with a $97,000 media buy in September, won her open primary over Democrats Joe Kerr and Allyson Damikolas, who collected 26% and 16% of the vote respectively. Stand With Crypto gave Kim a “B” rating, noting her public comments supporting the SEC’s approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January.
In Alabama, former Justice Department official Shomari Figures advanced to a runoff in the Democratic primary for Alabama’s second congressional district. Figures’ website hails crypto as a way to “stimulate innovation and technological advancement” while calling for better consumer protection around digital assets. The Super PAC Protect Progress spent $1.7 million this cycle supporting Figures, a group that also ran ads supporting Texas state representative Julie Johnson in her congressional election bid. On Tuesday, Johnson avoided a runoff and won the Democratic primary for the seat outright.
The crypto industry’s investment in politics represents a fresh attempt after the downfall of one of its most prolific donors, Sam Bankman-Fried, who is awaiting sentencing on multiple counts of fraud committed at his crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried allegedly stole more than $100 million from FTX for political donations.
And these wins are crucial for the industry as they stare down the prospect of tougher rules from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which generally considers any not unnamed bitcoin to be under its jurisdiction and could try to force compliance with stringent financial regulations in the future. The agency is currently locked in a heated court battle with the exchange Coinbase that gets to the heart of that question.
But, at least for now, it’s been a good week for the crypto industry, which, in addition to its political wins, saw the price of Bitcoin briefly hit an all-time high of $69,000 a coin. Ron Hammond, the director of government relations for the Blockchain Association, a crypto-focused lobbying group, put it simply on X/Twitter: “It’s been a helluva week for crypto, and if the markets weren’t capturing D.C.’s attention, last night’s election results will.”
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