Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency Super PACs Are Crushing the 2024 Election
Occasionally we feel compelled to remind everyone of the basic rule of shebeen regarding cryptocurrency: When someone comes up to you and says, “Hey, look, I invented new money,” what if there isn’t a bottle of sparkling water or cream pie in hand, run like hell in the other direction. Additionally, there is an unusual ratio of weird to normal between the various pitchers. From NBC4 in Columbus:
Days before Sunday’s ceremony, OSU’s chosen speaker, Chris Pan, announced on LinkedIn that he had taken the psychedelic drug ayahuasca to write your first drafts. “I received help from AI (Ayahuasca Intelligence) this week to write my commencement speech to 60,000 graduates and families at Ohio State University this coming Sunday,” wrote Pan. “I tried ChatGPT but it wasn’t as good.” The resulting speech and an on-stage demonstration with OSU President Ted Carter drew audible boos from the audience on the university’s live broadcast, as Pan tried to encourage graduates and attendees to buy cryptocurrencies. “Saving is not enough because inflation exploded after the pandemic and that is why everything has become so expensive… I see Bitcoin as a very misunderstood asset class,” said Pan. “It is decentralized and finite, which means no government can print more freely.”
Mr. Pan may not have tripped when he gave the speech, but you can’t tell from that series of words pretending to be a sentence at the end. Also, I’m not exactly sure why Mr. Pan didn’t go for the gold and see poor Ted Carter in half. All that was missing from the whole scene was a medicine cart and a dancing bear.
For a while, it seemed like crypto had evaporated. The SEC was all over it. Congress, with Senator Professor Warren in the lead, questioned his good faith. It has become clear, however, that the industry is counting on the 2024 elections regain your momentum and to make new and influential friends. From the Public Citizen:
Super PACs backed by the cryptocurrency industry have raised more than $102 million, the third-highest of all super PACs involved in the 2024 election, according to data from Opensecrets.org. Only the super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign and the super PAC supporting Democratic Senate candidates have raised more money so far. More than half of crypto-super PACs’ political war chests – about $54 million – come from direct corporate spending, primarily Coinbase and Ripple Labs, showing that the sector is making the most of the unlimited corporate political spending allowed by the Citizens United.
The rest of the crypto super PACs’ political war chest comes from billionaire crypto executives and venture capitalists, including $11 million each from the founders of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, $5 million from the Winklevoss twins, and $1 million from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Of the six 2024 primary races in which crypto super PACs intervened and which have now ended, only one crypto-backed candidate lost. There remain eleven primary races that include crypto-backed candidates. Crypto-super PACs have pledged to participate in the general Senate elections in the swing states of Ohio and Montana, which are seen as essential to securing a Senate majority. Democratic incumbents in both races have criticized the crypto sector.
One of the two Republicans campaigning to challenge Senator Professor Warren in November is a crypto supporter (and lawyer) named John Deaton. From WGBH:
Foreshadowing a potential election theme, her 2023 post about challenging Warren came in response to comments she made about cryptocurrency regulation and the ways she sees the technology as a threat. Deaton said at the time that she was “not suggesting” she would win, but “would love to confront her.”
Deaton will undoubtedly benefit from that war chest that crypto has accumulated, not a dollar except good old US dollars. That’s irony for you.
Related Story
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has worked as a journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.