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Blockchain Association Sets Up New Crypto Industry PAC
The political action committee won’t be in full swing for the midterm elections that settle which party will control Congress
The Blockchain Association is adding its own political action committee to the crypto industry’s growing array of campaign-finance efforts seeking to steer the U.S. government’s debate over digital assets.
The BA PAC will contribute to the campaigns of “pro-crypto candidates” from both parties, according to Kristin Smith, the Washington-based association’s executive director. The timing – dated Monday in the group’s filing with the Federal Election Commission – is too late to make a splash in November’s midterm elections that will decide if Republicans will surge into power in Congress or whether Democrats will maintain their tenuous hold. But the PAC will be in a position to exert influence in the presidential election year in 2024.
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The PAC will still donate to candidates for this November's election, though a press release declined to identify which candidates.
“We believe crypto is by definition a non-partisan issue,” Smith said in a tweet on Monday. “We will support candidates in that spirit, seeking the best champions for this technology no matter which side of the aisle they come from.”
3/ We believe crypto is by definition a non-partisan issue. We will support candidates in that spirit, seeking the best champions for this technology no matter which side of the aisle they come from.
— Kristin Smith (@KMSmithDC) September 12, 2022
Smith herself has donated to candidates from both parties, as well as right-leaning fundraising group WinRed, according to FEC data.
The industry has quickly become one of the dominant forces in political giving, with its new PACs outpacing many of the political efforts from more established industries. Crypto billionaires such as Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the FTX crypto exchange, have poured tens of millions of dollars of their own money into U.S. politics over the past few years.
Julie Stitzel, vice president of public policy at CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group, will be the PAC's chairwoman. The directors will include Ryan Selkis, who founded crypto data provider Messari; Jonathan Jachym, the global head of policy at crypto exchange Kraken; John McCarthy, counsel at Wicklow Capital; and Seth Hertlein,, head of policy at digital wallet provider Ledger.
Jesse Hamilton
Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor on the Global Policy and Regulation team, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022, he worked for more than a decade covering Wall Street regulation at Bloomberg News and Businessweek, writing about the early whisperings among federal agencies trying to decide what to do about crypto. He’s won several national honors in his reporting career, including from his time as a war correspondent in Iraq and as a police reporter for newspapers. Jesse is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he studied journalism and history. He has no crypto holdings.
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Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s 'Punitive Tax' on Data Access
A coalition of fintech and crypto trade groups is urging the White House to defend open banking and stop JPMorgan from charging fees to access customer data.
What to know:
- Ten major fintech and crypto trade associations have urged President Trump to stop big banks from imposing fees that could hinder innovation and competition.
- JPMorgan's plan to charge for access to consumer banking data may debank millions and threaten the adoption of stablecoins and self-custody wallets.
- The CFPB's open banking rule, which mandates free consumer access to bank data, is under threat as banks have sued to block it, and the CFPB has requested its vacatur.
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