Report: Nearly half of corporate election spending in the 2024 US election cycle comes from crypto companies

Odaily News Nearly half of corporate political donations in the 2024 election cycle came from cryptocurrency companies, according to a report released Wednesday by corporate influence watchdog Public Citizen. Public Citizen's report, which is based on data provided by government transparency group OpenSecrets, found that 48% of corporate election spending so far has come from crypto companies such as Ripple and Coinbase. The vast majority of these donations have flowed into super political action committees (PACs) that support cryptocurrencies, such as Fairshake. The report noted that of the $203 million raised by Fairshake, $107.9 million came directly from crypto companies, and the rest came from well-known figures in the tech and crypto industries, including large donations from the Winklevoss brothers and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Rick Claypool, author of the Public Citizen report and director of research, described political spending in the crypto industry as "unprecedented." Direct spending by crypto companies has totaled $129 million over the past three election cycles, accounting for 15% of all known corporate donations since 2010. Since 2010, only the fossil fuel industry has outspent crypto companies, donating $162 million to fossil fuel-friendly politicians over the past 14 years. (CoinDesk)