Nearly Half of All Corporate Election Spending in 2024 Cycle Comes from Crypto Companies, Study Finds

blic Citizen found that crypto companies have contributed $119 million to crypto-friendly super PACs this election cycle.

Crypto Companies Dominate Corporate Election Spending in 2024 Cycle

A recent study by Public Citizen has revealed that nearly half of all corporate political contributions in the 2024 election cycle have originated from cryptocurrency companies.

According to the report, which analyzed data from OpenSecrets, crypto firms have contributed a staggering $119 million to crypto-friendly super PACs so far this cycle. This represents 48% of the total $248 million in corporate election spending reported to date.

The vast majority of these donations have been funneled into pro-crypto super political action committees (PACs), such as Fairshake. This non-partisan super PAC aims to get crypto-friendly candidates from both parties elected and to quash the bids of crypto skeptics.

Public Citizen's report highlights that $107.9 million of the $203 million raised by Fairshake has come directly from crypto companies. The remaining funds were raised through large donations from deep-pocketed individuals in the tech and crypto industries, including the Winklevoss twins and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

Rick Claypool, research director at Public Citizen and the author of the report, described the crypto industry's political spending as "unprecedented." He noted that crypto companies' direct spending in the past three election cycles totals $129 million, or 15% of all known corporate contributions since 2010.

This marks the year that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a First Amendment right to make unlimited donations to candidates via PACs.

notably, only the fossil fuel industry has outspent crypto companies since 2010, donating a known $162 million to fossil fuel-friendly politicians over the past 14 years.

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