Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it has made a generous donation of $25 million to the crypto-focused super political action committee (PAC) called Fairshake. This move is part of Coinbase’s efforts to increase its lobbying activities in preparation for the upcoming United States elections in November.
In a blog post on June 3, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that this latest contribution brings the total amount raised by Fairshake and its affiliates to $160 million for this election cycle. Other notable donors include Ripple and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, who also made donations last week.
Armstrong emphasized the importance of sending a clear message to political candidates that being anti-crypto is bad politics. He urged the crypto community to support pro-crypto candidates across party lines and vote out those who are against the industry.
Fairshake, with its $160 million funding, is now one of the top super PACs in the country with substantial financial resources, according to analysis by OpenSecrets. Although it cannot directly donate funds to political candidates, it has the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money to support them through other means.
OpenSecrets data reveals that Fairshake’s biggest expenditure this election cycle has been $10 million on lobbying against Democrats, accounting for a quarter of the $40 million it has spent so far. Earlier this year, Fairshake funded attack ads targeting California Representative Katie Porter, who ultimately lost in a primary race for the Senate in March.
Coinbase’s donation to Fairshake comes just before the highly anticipated November 5 U.S. elections, where the presidency, all 435 House seats, and 34 out of 100 Senate seats will be contested. Currently, the Republicans hold the majority in the House, while the Democrats control the Senate. However, a report by Public Citizen in May highlighted the crypto sector’s significant influence in key races and how it could potentially sway control of Congress in favor of one party or the other.
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