Coinbase Dishes Out $25 Million To Super PAC

Coinbase, the number one cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, has made another large donation to Fairshake’s super PAC.

Coinbase donated $25 million to Fairshake’s super PAC in an attempt to elect more crypto-friendly lawmakers.

The $25 million donation from Coinbase makes Fairshake’s total balance jump to $161 million.

Fairshake hasn’t been sitting back with the cash, either.

Yahoo Finance reported that Fairshake spent $10.7 million on the campaign against  Rep. Katie Porter’s (D-CA) Senate campaign.

Porter has been vocal about her disdain for crypto’s growth.

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-N.D.) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who have both been pro-crypto lawmakers, have received the most from Fairshake so far.

[News] Coinbase Invests $25 Million in Crypto Political Action Committee Fairshake

On the eve of the U.S. election, Coinbase, along with Andreessen Horowitz and Ripple, has invested $25 million in the crypto-focused super PAC, Fairshake. pic.twitter.com/Xf83eqMohj

— Bitharvest (@bitharvest_io) June 4, 2024

Per Yahoo Finance:

Top U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has donated a further $25 million to Fairshake’s super PAC, according to a blog post on Monday. The lobbying money, which will bolster the campaigns of crypto-friendly congressional candidates in upcoming state primaries, follows in the footsteps of crypto payments company Ripple and venture capital firm a16z, which each donated $25 million last week to Fairshake.

This takes the super PAC’s total balance to $161 million for this year’s federal elections, according to CoinDesk. Other Fairshake donors include the Winklevoss twins, Jump Crypto, and Union Square Ventures. A recent report from the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen found that digital-asset-affiliated super PACs, including Fairshake, have raised the third-highest dollar amount of all super PACs ahead of the 2024 election.

In the congressional races, the most recent national poll suggests the fight remains razor-thin, with Democrats leading by just 0.1%.

Fairshake has spent over $11.3 million of its war chest, with over $10.7 million used to campaign against a single Democratic candidate, Rep. Kate Porter, according to the latest Federal Election Committee data analyzed by OpenSecrets. Porter lost in the California primary in March to fill the seat once held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

The two active candidates to receive the most Fairshake funding so far are Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-N.D.) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), each with over $122,000 in donations. Both representatives were crucial in the drafting and negotiation of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, or FIT21.

Coinbase Boosts Fairshake Super PAC with an Additional $25 Million Donation https://t.co/Z81kaeHVwA

— imX (@imcoinx) June 4, 2024

Bein Crypto got the scoop, too:

Coinbase, a popular crypto exchange in the US, announced an additional $25 million donation to Fairshake Super Political Action Committee (PAC) in a blog post. Coinbase stated that this fund aims to elect pro-crypto candidates and defend crypto users’ rights.

With this latest contribution, Fairshake and its affiliates have raised a total of $160 million this election cycle, making it one of the largest Super PACs.

The donation reflects Coinbase’s strategy to expedite regulatory clarity through legislative and judicial means. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong emphasized the importance of electing pro-crypto candidates to overcome legislative gridlock and ensure the industry’s growth.

“For a bill to become law in the US, it must pass the House, Senate, and be signed into law by the President. And in our divided government, the default is that nothing will happen unless the cost of inaction is greater than doing the right thing. This leads us to an important conclusion: The best way to get regulatory clarity in democratic countries is to elect pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle and to vote anti-crypto candidates out of office,” Armstrong said.

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