Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong speaks at a political rally hosted by Stand With Crypto. (screenshot from Coinbase video)
The long list of primary elections Tuesday across 15 U.S. states will steer the fates of many seats in Congress and further solidifies the presidential showdown later this year, but Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said it’s also a “chance to send a message” to federal politicians who’ve declined to come up with crypto policies.
“They’re still not taking us seriously,” he said at a crypto rally in California, hosted by Coinbase-backed political group Stand With Crypto on the eve of so-called Super Tuesday. He argued an increasing numbers of voters are interested in digital assets.
“Suddenly everybody in DC, they’re going to realize this is just good politics,” Armstrong said, suggesting politicians will soon realize they need to figure out crypto. “If I want to be elected, I need to go understand this technology and represent my constituency.”
This is the second election season where the crypto industry has significantly participated, pushing millions of dollars towards friendly candidates or against skeptics of the sector.
In California, the two primary Democrats competing for the open Senate seat show a stark disagreement over crypto, as per rankings kept on Stand With Crypto’s website. U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has an “A” on the website, while Representative Katie Porter (D-Calif.) has an “F,” based on comments they’ve made or stances on crypto legislation they’ve adopted.
Porter has been a specific target of Fairshake, a crypto political action committee (PAC) that has expended millions to jeopardize her Senate run. If she fails to make the top two in today’s voting, she won’t make the general election. Until now, polling suggests she’s lagging behind Schiff and top Republican Steve Garvey.
The digital assets sector is also notably interested in how Democrat Julie Johnson performs in her attempt to represent a Texas congressional district, and similarly for Democrat Shomari Figures in Alabama. Figures’ candidate website states the Washington insider plans to “embrace the new landscape around digital assets,” and Johnson’s website claims that “Americans can benefit from crypto innovation.” Both of these congressional contests are crowded with candidates.
By the time Wednesday comes along, the pool of political figures contending for places in Congress will have dramatically reduced. During the last election cycle, the majority of donations from the industry were channeled towards candidates that were highly likely to win. A significant portion of these donations, however, were sanctioned by the now-defunct exchange FTX and its controversial founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resulting in one third of the current Congress struggling to justify or renounce these campaign contributions.
Crypto has become an even more contentious political issue in the wake of the 2022 failures, which saw numerous crypto lenders and a select few mining companies declaring bankruptcy, not to mention the ongoing legislative debates. Republicans tend to voice strong support for the industry, potentially making “crypto-friendly” Democrats harder to come by in the future.
In other news, a previous Democrat, Senator Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, revealed her plans to step down at the end of this year. Sinema played a significant role in the infrastructure bill of 2021, which impacted the crypto industry through its tax implications. This blow was a factor that inspired the industry to increase its lobbying and campaign finance efforts.
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