With only six weeks until Election Day, the U.S. cryptocurrency industry continues to spend big bucks to ensure pro-crypto candidates are elected to Congress in November.
FOX Business has learned that Exodus, a popular crypto wallet provider, has donated $1.3 million to the leading bipartisan advocacy group Stand With Crypto, adding to the growing war chest of nearly $190 million the industry has donated to political action committees and candidates this election cycle.
According to Stand With Crypto executives, Exodus’ contribution will go toward scaling its community outreach efforts to educate and mobilize crypto voters nationwide.
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“At Exodus, we’ve always believed that the future of finance lies in decentralization and individual empowerment,” said Exodus CEO JP Richardson. “Stand With Crypto is doing critical work to make sure this future is realized, and we are proud to contribute to their cause. Together, we’re making strides toward a future where crypto and blockchain technology are fostered and developed right here in the U.S.”
Exodus is listed as a partner on Stand With Crypto’s website alongside other industry giants Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken and Consensys. Exodus’ contribution brings Stand with Crypto’s total donations to $2.79 million, separate from the $177 million given to crypto super PAC Fairshake, according to SWC’s website.
The spending blitz comes as the so-called crypto voter bloc is poised to significantly influence the outcome of several key congressional races nationwide, and potentially even the race for the White House.
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According to Federal Election Commission filings, Fairshake has thrown more than $23 million on ad spends for pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle, helping notch several primary wins along the way. Meanwhile, Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit, uses its donations primarily for voter mobilization. Last week, the group wrapped up a tour of five swing states where advocates registered 100,000 voters across Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Stand With Crypto does endorse candidates, though. Its website shows a list of twenty-one pro-crypto congressional candidates, both Democrat and Republican, the organization supports with links to donate to their individual campaigns.
On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed cryptocurrency for the first time since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. In a speech to Wall Street donors, Harris said her administration would “encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting consumers and investors,” adding that she would also create a safe business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road.
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Pro-crypto Democrats applauded the vice president’s acknowledgment of the industry; however, her message was met with skepticism from supporters of former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate on crypto in recent months, who dismissed her remarks as “too little, too late.”
Trump, meanwhile, has been mining the crypto industry for votes with promises of a lighter regulatory touch, fire the industry’s arch nemesis – Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler – and make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet.” Last week, Trump visited a bitcoin-themed bar in New York City where he bought $1,000 worth of burgers and drinks for patrons, paying in bitcoin, and becoming the first president, former or current, to transact on the bitcoin network.
