Crypto industry spends millions on U.S. midterm elections
Crypto – The cryptocurrency industry has spent millions of dollars on U.S. midterm election races during a year of heavy losses and upheaval in the sector, which hopes to gain sway among legislators as Congress debates tighter regulation of digital assets.
Crypto evangelists view 2023 as a critical year for regulation, with Congress expected to make progress on legislation on digital commodities and stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. Crypto companies are eager to back industry-friendly political candidates.
Explainer: Crypto industry spends millions on U.S. midterm elections
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Nov 8 (Reuters) – The cryptocurrency industry has spent millions of dollars on U.S. midterm election races during a year of heavy losses and upheaval in the sector, which hopes to gain sway among legislators as Congress debates tighter regulation of digital assets.
Crypto evangelists view 2023 as a critical year for regulation, with Congress expected to make progress on legislation on digital commodities and stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. Crypto companies are eager to back industry-friendly political candidates.
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The election comes at a time of turmoil for the crypto industry. Bitcoin’s price has swooned about 70% from its peak, investors are more worried about the risk of crypto assets and on Tuesday, crypto giant Binance tentatively agreed to buy FTX’s non-U.S. unit to help the rival exchange cover a “liquidity crunch.”
FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has far outspent all others in the crypto industry. His contributions of nearly $40 million to campaigns this election cycle make him the sixth-largest individual donor in the United States, according to OpenSecrets’ biggest individual donor list.
The vast majority of his spending was in support of Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.
The deal with Binance announced by Bankman-Fried on Tuesday marked an abrupt change in fortune for the crypto entrepreneur.
Ryan Salame, CEO of an FTX subsidiary, was the 14th biggest individual donor on the list, giving more than $23.6 million, all to Republicans, including $11,600 backing the campaign of Rep. Alex Mooney, a Republican from West Virginia.
FTX did not respond to a Reuters request to confirm those figures.
Source – https://www.reuters.com/