As a seasoned political analyst with a deep-rooted interest in both technology and finance, I find the impact of cryptocurrency and blockchain on the 2024 US elections to be an intriguing development. Having closely followed the trajectory of these technologies since their inception, it’s fascinating to see them evolve into a significant political talking point.
Despite political analysts yet to fully analyze the outcomes of the 2024 U.S. elections held on November 5th, a significant number of candidates who pledged support for pro-cryptocurrency and blockchain policies emerged victorious in their primary contests and general elections.
As per reports from the advocacy group Stand With Crypto, approximately 270 candidates who are considered pro-cryptocurrency secured their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
As a crypto investor, I found it intriguing that data from Paradigm’s Election Day poll indicated nearly half of us in the crypto community waited until the last minute to exercise our voting rights. It seems we leaned towards the Republican party, and our collective decision might have contributed to Donald Trump securing 76.8 million votes, just a bit shy of half the total votes cast – approximately 49%.
According to Paradigm, Democrats had a chance to attract crypto supporters towards the end of their campaign, but they failed to do so, possibly because of disagreements among party members regarding their stance on cryptocurrency.
As the election approached, Trump frequently emphasized cryptocurrency in his campaign by delivering speeches at events such as the Bitcoin 2024 conference, sharing his pledges for the industry on social media platforms, and attending crypto-oriented establishments like the NYC Pubkey bar, which is known for its friendly approach towards digital currencies.
In September, Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris primarily focused her campaign efforts on portraying Donald Trump as a danger to American democracy, while only issuing a single formal statement in support of an industry.
How Harris’ and Trump’s positions on crypto played out
North Carolina Representative Wiley Nickel, one of the few Democratic voices in Congress advocating for the industry, emphasized to CryptoMoon at the North American Blockchain Summit (NABS) on November 21st that cryptocurrency policy was a “highly impactful” factor for voters during recent elections. He backed this statement with data from Paradigm.
Representative Nickel stated that in Nevada, Michigan, and Arizona, Donald Trump was leading, but pro-crypto Democrats were also winning for the Senate. This indicates a potential mistake by Vice President Harris for not fully addressing and resonating with voters on the crypto issue, which could have had a significant impact.
Arkansas Congressman French Hill, who is a Republican and leads the digital assets subcommittee, as well as being a potential candidate for chairing the House Financial Services Committee in 2025, shared with CryptoMoon that cryptocurrency served as a significant driver in the recent U.S. elections. The lawmaker expressed his view that the Biden administration’s stance on supporting the industry has been ambiguous at best.
Rep. Hill stated that “they could have turned their backing of digital assets into a point of positivity,” referring to the US President and Vice President Harris. Instead, they didn’t, leaving room for former President Trump to associate himself with this fast-evolving technology that generated considerable enthusiasm.
Is crypto money influencing US elections?
Support for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is considered an issue that should transcend political boundaries in the U.S. Congress, according to several lawmakers from both Republican and Democratic parties. Yet, a significant point of disagreement among these parties appears to be the potential impact of industry money on voters, specifically through advertisements and media purchases.
In the 2024 election, political action committees (PACs) backed by cryptocurrency, including Fairshake, are believed to have expended approximately $134 million to support candidates endorsing pro-industry policies. This financial backing might have played a role in the unsuccessful bid of Democrat Sherrod Brown for a US Senate seat in Ohio.
In the highly costly Senate race in U.S. history, Defend American Jobs affiliate, Fairshake, invested over $40 million to back Republican Bernie Moreno in Ohio. Rep. Nickel, reflecting a common sentiment among Democrats, called for campaign finance reform, stating that there was far too much financial influence in politics.
In simpler terms, after leaving Congress in 2023, former Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey (a Republican) said that political action committees (PACs) influencing elections in 2024 was a “great” move from the industry to support candidates. He explained this as a reaction to unclear regulations and lawsuits initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
One of Fairshake’s main supporters, Coinbase, has already committed an extra $25 million towards Fairshake’s initiatives to endorse candidates in the upcoming US midterm elections. As of November 4th, Fairshake announced they had amassed a total of $78 million for 2026 – approximately half the amount they raised from 2023 to 2024.
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2024-11-25 21:03