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Crypto is the darling of the 2024 elections, and I’m totally here for it. For the first time in history, two presidential candidates are actively courting crypto voting. Donald Trump made his speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference addressing crypto voters, which was met with a surprising vote of support from the crypto community. Democrats, unwilling to concede the crypto vote to Trump, held a crypto reset meeting with prominent industry leaders and also launched Crypto for Harris.
However, in the not-so-distant past, many proclaimed crypto “dead.” The industry has endured a brutal crypto winter, losing over two trillion in market capitalization in 2022 and under global scrutiny from regulators. Now, two years later, crypto has become the dominant player in the 2024 elections. Keep the game going.
The Origin Story of the SEC Villain
Crypto’s rise as a key player on the political stage is rooted in its antagonistic conflicts with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Binance lawyers, Gary Gensler approached Binance about becoming an advisor in 2019, but the company rejected his offer.
Since 2021, there has been a considerable increase in crypto-related cases at the SEC since President Joe Biden appointed Gary Gensler as SEC/Biden Chairman. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Three court cases that truly establish the SEC as the primary overseer of crypto:
- Number Ain the Telegram case, the company had to return more than a billion US dollars through a symbolic increase. Paving the way for the reign of SAFTs, Simple Agreement For Future Tokens contracts and the ICO boom in the United States.
- Number two This was the Ripple Labs case, which ultimately concluded that Ripple (XRP) was a security on the institutional side but not a security on the retail side.
- Third, the BitMEX case, where the arrest of the founders of such a prominent exchange for AML/KYC violations, usually a slap on the wrist, shook the industry.
The lawsuits filed against these companies were like warning shots fired by the SEC, foreshadowing the heavy hand they would take towards big crypto companies.
The change: from friend to enemy
Once the crypto winter arrived, after the collapse of Terra Luna, the public sentiment was that bad actors in the space needed to be taken out and held accountable. Seizing the opportunity, the SEC began its crackdown on crypto, handing out Wells notices like Halloween candy, forcing some companies to divest from their U.S. operations or close up shop to stop the bleeding.
Even companies once considered allies have become targets. The irony is that the SEC has accused Coinbase of operating an illicit exchange. Coinbase acted as a custodian for the US government, working directly with the US Marshals Service to sell Bitcoin (BTC) confiscated from the “illicit” website Silk Road.
This is a rather strange move by the SEC since Coinbase is based in the United States, holds a BitLicense, and is a publicly traded company.
Crypto fights back
One notable major change is that the crypto industry has gone on the offensive, accusing federal regulators of refusing to create reasonable crypto regulations and guidelines for the industry. Gemini COO Marshall Beard expressed his frustration in an interview with Bloomberg TV: “WWe’re calling for broader regulation, we’ve been doing it for a decade now, and the US doesn’t have a broad crypto regulatory framework..”
Major players in the crypto space have boosted their government relations efforts by partnering with lobbying firms and donating campaign dollars to crypto-friendly candidates. Some even fought back by filing suit against the SEC.
According to Open Secrets, a campaign finance tracking site, contributions to crypto political campaigns increased significantly between the 2020 and 2022 election cycle. Nearly 50% of corporate donations come from crypto companies. To top it all off, Fairshake is the largest Super PAC funded by the crypto industry this campaign cycle, raising over $200 million. Strengthening crypto dominance and influence in the 2024 elections.
Key voting bloc in swing states
Crypto voters are at the forefront in the 2024 US presidential elections. Perianne Boring, CEO and founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, accurately predicted this scenario in an interview with CNBC in 2022:
“I think the watershed moment for crypto and politics will probably be in 2024 and I’m thinking about the next presidential election. The candidate who can understand how to leverage blockchain to access the crypto community will be our next president.
Political analysts expect the US presidential election to be a very close race, where small factions within the electorate could hold the key to victory. The crypto industry has taken note, working to position crypto as a wedge issue, collecting data and extensive research on swing voters.
Data from a recent Harris poll suggests that one in five voters in a battleground state consider crypto a key issue. The industry as a whole has crypto voters who are very engaged, very active and very aware of their power in the upcoming election.
Stand With Crypto, a pro-crypto advocacy group, has already amassed nearly 1.5 million online registrations. Their America Loves Crypto tour will hit five battleground states in September to increase crypto voter turnout.
Play all sides to win
Crypto lobbying groups have not pledged allegiance to any camp and actively donate to both Republicans and Democrats. However, that hasn’t stopped crypto executives like Arthur Hayes and Charles Hoskinson from influencing the elections. Some going so far as to support candidates.
The Winklevoss twins have thrown their support behind Donald Trump, while Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen supports Kamala Harris. The visibility of the crypto industry has exceeded anything seen in previous campaign cycles. He positions his community as a key demographic so candidates must earn their votes.
Regardless of which candidate wins, crypto has proven to be the real winner of the 2024 election by coming back from a brutal crypto winter and an equally tough onslaught from federal regulators: moving from complete cancellation by the mainstream media to an astute mastery of DC politics, rises from the ashes like a Phoenix.
