50% of Corporate Election Spending in the 2024 Cycle Comes from the Crypto Sector

Why Trust Tech Report

Tech Report is one of the oldest hardware, news, and tech review sites on the internet. We write helpful technology guides, unbiased product reviews, and report on the latest tech and crypto news. We maintain editorial independence and consider content quality and factual accuracy to be non-negotiable.

Reports show that many political donations in the 2024 US election cycle are from crypto companies. 

According to a report released by the Think-tank Public Citizen, almost 50% of all corporate political donations made in the 2024 elections came from digital asset companies.

The report further reveals that crypto donations to financed super political action committees (PACs) have reached $119 million, focusing on pro-crypto candidates.

Report Reveals Crypto Companies’ Major Role in Corporate Political Donations

Public Citizen, a corporate oversight organization, released this information in its Wednesday report. The organization obtained this information from data shared by government transparency group OpenSecrets.

Furthermore, the report revealed that crypto companies like Ripple and Coinbase contributed 48% of corporate political donations. This percentage amounts to $119 million out of the total donation of 248 million dollars.

The crypto companies have directed most of these donations toward pro-crypto super political action committees (PACs). One such committee is Fairshake, a non-partisan super PAC that supports crypto-friendly candidates from the two major US political parties.

Additionally, Public Citizen’s report shows that of the $203 million that Fairshake raised, cryptocurrency companies directly donated $107.9 million. The rest come from other wealthy and influential individuals in the tech and crypto sectors, like the Winklevoss twins and Coinbase Brian Armstrong. 

The research director and author of Public Citizen’s report, Rick Claypool, has characterized the industry’s political spending as unmatched. He highlighted that over the past three election cycles, crypto companies have directly contributed $129 million, representing 15% of all known corporate donations since 2010.

The surge in these figures follows the US Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling on Citizens United Vs. Federal Election Commission. This ruling affirmed that corporations can offer unlimited donations to political candidates using PACs.

Furthermore, the Public Citizen report shows that only the fossil fuel industry has surpassed the spending of crypto companies. This industry has donated $162 million to politicians who support fossil fuels over the past 14 years.

The Role of Digital Assets in the US 2024 Elections

With the US elections drawing near, the nation can feel the heavy impact of political rifts. Voters are nearly evenly split along both party lines.

Moreover, the recently revived Democratic ticket proves that the presidential race is extremely close. The result of this election will substantially impact the future of digital assets.

Cryptocurrencies are significant in elections because elections are determined by financial resources and voter mobilization, not merely by ideas. Since politicians can be easily swayed if not outrightly bought, digital assets play a huge role in elections.

According to data from followthecrypto.org, many Silicon Valley players are already using their wealth to determine future policies on digital assets.

The 2024 election is notable for crypto as the outcome could determine the regulatory outlook over the next administrative cycle. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has pledged his commitment to promoting a crypto-friendly environment if elected. 

Also, recent reports suggest that Democrat flag bearer Kamala Harris has taken a pro-crypto stance. The Democrats, White House officials, and Harris’ campaign team recently met with top crypto leaders to discuss the way forward regarding digital asset regulations.