Crypto tycoons pour millions into races
WASHINGTON — Erin Houchin braced for the worst when a mysterious group started buying television ads last month in her highly competitive southern Indiana congressional race.
Houchin assumed she would face a negative blitz, like the one that crushed her in 2016 when she ran for the same seat. But, in fact, the opposite happened.
American Dream Federal Action, a super political action committee financed by a cryptocurrency CEO, saturated the district with ads promoting Houchin as a “Trump Tough” conservative who would “stop the socialists in Washington.” That push helped secure her victory last week in a Republican primary.
The impact of the unsolicited helps shows how cryptocurrency tycoons are emerging as the new political power players. They are pouring millions of dollars into primary elections as they try to gain influence over members of Congress and other government officials who are crafting regulations.
This year, for the first time, industry executives have spent nearly $20 million so far, according to records and interviews. It’s a delicate but deliberate march by companies that make money based in part on evading government attention.
More than $100 million also has been spent lobbying since 2018 by crypto companies, as well as those who potentially stand to lose if the industry goes mainstream, records show.
The push comes as the Biden administration and Congress consider new regulations and set funding levels for agencies that will oversee crypto.
“What do they want? They want no regulation, or they want to help write the regulation. What else is new?” asked Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, an industry critic.
Cryptocurrencies are a digital asset that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. They’ve been promoted as a way for that those with limited means to build wealth by investing in the next big thing.
But they’re also highly speculative and often lack transparency, which substantially increases risk.