Explainer-Crypto industry spends millions on U.S. midterm elections

During a year of significant losses and upheaval, the cryptocurrency industry has spent millions of dollars on U.S. midterm elections in an effort to influence lawmakers as Congress discusses tightening regulation of digital assets.

The year 2023 is important for regulation, according to proponents of cryptocurrencies, since Congress is expected to make headway on laws governing digital goods and stablecoins, a sort of cryptocurrency tethered to the dollar. Crypto firms are willing to support political politicians who support the industry.

The cryptocurrency business is in upheaval at the time of the election. Investors are more concerned about the risk associated with crypto assets as Bitcoin's price has fallen by roughly 70% from its high. On Tuesday, crypto behemoth Binance informally agreed to purchase FTX's non-U.S. unit to assist the competing exchange in addressing a "liquidity shortage."

Who in the cryptocurrency community is funding the midterm elections?

Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, has outspent everyone else in the cryptocurrency sector.

According to OpenSecrets' biggest individual donor list, with contributions to campaigns totaling about $40 million this election cycle, he is the sixth-largest individual donor in the United States.

According to OpenSecrets, the great majority of his expenditures were made in support of Democrats.

The partnership with Binance that Bankman-Fried revealed on Tuesday signaled a sudden turn in the cryptocurrency entrepreneur's fortune.

The 14th-largest individual donor on the list was Ryan Salame, the CEO of an FTX subsidiary. He gave more than $23.6 million to Republicans, including $11,600 to support Rep. Alex Mooney, a Republican from West Virginia.

A Reuters request for confirmation of the numbers received no response from FTX.

Anthony Scaramucci, the former director of communications for the Trump White House, formed Skybridge Capital, which this year gave $100,000 to the Crypto Innovation super PAC as well as Scaramucci.

"The people have spoken: they support financial inclusion, believe blockchain technology holds potential, and are demanding that policymakers pay attention. This is why we at SkyBridge have placed such a large wager on cryptocurrencies and, more significantly, the underlying blockchain technology.