A new report from Public Citizen has revealed that cryptocurrency companies account for nearly half of all corporate spending so far in the 2024 election.

Companies have spent $248 million trying to influence this federal election, with $119.2 million of that coming from cryptocurrency companies. According to A Public Citizen analysis of campaign finance records released Wednesday found that spending related to the cryptocurrency sector shows no clear partisan bias, and the newly politically active industry has received a warm welcome from politicians of both parties.

Crypto companies accounted for just 2.5% of corporate political spending in 2022, compared with 4.6% in 2020, according to a Public Citizen report. (Related article: Tech moguls gather under Trump's banner)

“Never before has an industry so wholeheartedly embraced raising significant amounts of money directly from corporations and then openly using that political capital as an imminent threat (or reward) to punish lawmakers into adopting the policies the industry wants,” wrote Rick Claypool, research director at Public Citizen. “The current even partisan split in both houses of Congress means that the crypto industry's outsized influence in competitive races could tip control of Congress in one direction or the other.”

FairShake PAC has emerged as the largest player in the crypto industry's political corps. Raise $202.9 million from According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Fairshake has donated funds to digital currency companies such as Coinbase and Ripple, spending more than $93 million so far this election cycle. Fairshake began this cycle by spending more than $10 million in California's open Senate primary against Democratic Rep. Katie Porter.

In March, the PAC pledged to put money into Senate races in Ohio and Montana, two of the most closely watched races this season, The New York Times reported. Reported.

Since then, Fairshake has pledged to spend $12 million to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Politico reports. ReportedFollowing the announcement, liberal megadonor Ron Conway withdrew from the PAC, concerned that the spending would alienate liberal Democrats as Congress considers bills related to the industry.

It's still unclear who the PAC will back in Montana — incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester or Republican challenger Tim Sheehy. The PAC is taking a bipartisan approach to House spending, backing nine Republicans and nine Democrats, Axios reported. Reported.

Republicans seem so eager to cash in on the cryptocurrency money flowing into their elections that they have added a clause to their 2024 platform vowing to “end the Democrats’ illegal and un-American crackdown on cryptocurrency and oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency.”

“We will protect the right to mine Bitcoin and ensure that all Americans have the right to self-custody and trade their digital assets free from government oversight or control,” the platform continues. In contrast to the Republican platform, the Democratic platform states: Platform He is silent on cryptocurrencies.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order in March 2022 calling on government agencies to study the risks and benefits of digital currencies, focusing on consumer protection, financial stability, illicit activity, climate change, inclusivity and responsible innovation. According to Biden told CNBC that he wants to make the cryptocurrency industry “more responsible” by reducing its impact on the climate.

However, Vice President Kamala Harris has called for a “reset” with the cryptocurrency industry ahead of the November elections and has been reaching out to figures close to crypto companies, the Financial Times reports. Reported Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and other Democratic senators attempted to solidify the reset at a “Crypto4Harris” town hall fundraiser on Aug. 14, voicing their support for the industry. According to From the American Prospect.

Crypto industry giants are frustrated with Biden's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, whom they view as hostile to digital assets, CNBC reports. ReportedFormer President Donald Trump echoed these sentiments, promising to ease regulations on cryptocurrencies and “get out of the way of innovation.”

“There will be regulation, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love the industry, not people who hate the industry,” Trump said at a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville in July, according to the Associated Press. ReportedThe former president promised to make the United States the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet” and said he would create a “strategic reserve” for Bitcoin.

Several deep-pocketed donors from the cryptocurrency industry have warmed to Trump, showing up at a high-profile fundraiser the former president hosted in June. Sources familiar with the event previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that attendees included Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, as well as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who famously battled with Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook and now runs a cryptocurrency exchange called Gemini.

The value of cryptocurrencies has fluctuated greatly over time, with Bitcoin being worth around $3,300 per coin in January 2019, skyrocketing to nearly $61,000 in October 2021, before falling to around $12,200 per coin in December 2022, and then skyrocketing to around $60,000 per coin in August. According to Go to Yahoo Finance.

As reported by CNBC, blockchain giant Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart Aldeloti also attended the fundraiser and explained how the company had to spend over $100 million to avoid a lawsuit from the SEC.

“The crypto industry's strategy appears to be that if you don't give crypto companies what they want, your political career will be ruined,” Claypool wrote in the Public Citizen report.

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