Bitcoin
$160M Bitcoin War Chest Could Ruin Democrats in November
Several of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies organized a political war fund of more than 160 million dollars they plan to invest this year in support of candidates who defend “light” industrial regulations – and Republicans stand to benefit most, experts tell the Post.
Cryptocurrency companies’ spending on lobbying and government relations reached a new high of $24.7 million in 2023, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Another $5.6 million has already been spent in the first quarter of 2024 – an amount that is expected to more than quintuple by November.
The two biggest spenders are Coin basea popular crypto exchange platform, and the Blockchain Association, a nonprofit organization that lobbies legislators at the state and federal levels.
Many of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies have organized a political war chest. REUTERS
A campaign fund of this size makes crypto one of the most influential players this election cycle.
Former President Donald “Trump’s acceptance and embrace of cryptography stands in stark contrast to the overwhelmingly regressive approach to cryptography taken by the Biden administration and the Democratic Party in general, which has consistently attacked the industry, in most cases unfairly,” Edward Wilson , an analyst at blockchain firm Nansen, told The Post.
“The issue of crypto is likely to influence and may even influence the election. This is because many US-based crypto supporters place crypto as a core issue for them and are fed up with the approach of chasing good players in the space like Coinbase and Uniswap while preventing access to products and airdrops while other countries thrive, taking the industry overseas with them. Based on this, it is likely that Republicans will receive significantly more in crypto donations – but it is difficult to determine how much – than Democrats.”
This could be extremely bad news for Democrats like Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who has repeatedly challenged the ethics and effectiveness of cryptocurrency companies and cryptocurrencies in general. (Brown’s campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.)
“Our founders would have been bitcoiners,” said Brown’s Republican opponent, Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno. “They believed in decentralization of power and control. That’s what it is. [Brown] I laughed about it, but I take it very seriously.”
Moreno already owned his own blockchain company and says Ohio has “a lot of” crypto “farmers” that his government should also consider.
“Encryption represents freedom, and philosophically what lawmakers like Brown and Democrats believe is that they should have control,” Moreno told the Post. “They would prefer to have control over schools, jobs and, of course, the currency. . . . They hate encryption in their hearts because they want to be in control. We disagree.”
“Our founders would have been bitcoiners,” said Bernie Moreno. SHOVEL
When asked whether Democrats could reverse course and find more support for the crypto industry before polls open, Moreno was not optimistic.
“The energy of the Democratic Party is controlled by extremists like Brown and Elizabeth Warren,” Moreno said. “Word has gotten out to the industry that if they are given four or more years of control, crypto in America will be completely dead.”
But not everyone is convinced that cryptography will be able to reach political dominance in America.
“The cryptocurrency industry has become much more involved in politics in just the last few years, from lobbying efforts to campaign donations,” said University of Dayton political scientist Christopher Devine. “But it’s unclear whether encryption will be successful in influencing elections across the country or in tight races involving powerful members of Congress, like Sherrod Brown’s battle for re-election in Ohio.”
One thing that can slow them down, according to Devine, is a lack of focus.
“It’s worth noting that the cryptocurrency industry donated almost equally to both parties in 2022,” he told The Post. “Their goals are not particularly partisan or ideological. They want to win the favor of whichever candidate is most likely to win a seat in the next Congress and potentially be able to vote on legislation that affects their industry.”
Jason Allegrante, chief legal and compliance officer at crypto firm Fireblocks, agrees – to a point.
“Blockchain is first and foremost a technology – and the development of this technology transcends political parties. What is notable about the industry’s positioning in this election cycle is that it will continue to prioritize the cause of innovation first, even as it returns to electoral politics. Republicans may benefit most this November simply because many already seem to understand the issues. But all candidates, regardless of party, will have the opportunity to defend crypto or test an anti-crypto stance with the American electorate,” he told the Post.
Right now, the industry appears to be determining whether men like Brown and Moreno are the outliers of their parties when it comes to cryptography or the exemplars. Simply put: he wants to make friends.
And the Republican Party seems very friendly.
Bitcoin
‘This is huge’ — Billionaire Mark Cuban issues ‘incredible’ Bitcoin and crypto prediction amid price slump
Bitcoin has surged again this year under former President Donald Trump Cryptocurrency boosts US presidential election in November with ‘revolutionary’ plan.
The price of bitcoin has surged to more than its all-time high in recent months, surpassing $70,000 per bitcoin and triggering a wave of mega-optimistic predictions about the price of bitcoinalthough it fell again this week to below $65,000 after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.
Now, as Elon Musk suddenly breaks his silence on bitcoin and cryptocurrenciesBillionaire investor Mark Cuban called a California plan to digitize 42 million car titles using blockchain an “incredible step forward” and “huge” for cryptocurrencies.
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Mark Cuban, famous Shark Tank investor and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has… [+] called a cryptocurrency update “amazing” amid bitcoin’s price slump.
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The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain, it was reported by Reuters, through technology company Oxhead Alpha on the Avalanche blockchain and designed to detect fraud and facilitate the securities transfer process.
“This is an incredible development for crypto,” Cuban, best known as an investor on TV’s Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, posted on X, joking that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler could sue the state as part of his hostility toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
“The reason this is huge for crypto is because people who hold the tokens will have an app with an Avalanche wallet,” Cuban said. “Tens of millions of Californians having and using a crypto wallet in the next five years, or however long it takes, normalizes the use of wallets and crypto.”
John Wu, president of Avalanche developer Ava Labs, told Reuters that California’s DMV is “creating a wallet that you can download on your phone.”
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Bitcoin’s price has rallied this year, triggering a wave of bullish bitcoin price predictions from… [+] people like billionaire Mark Cuban.
Forbes Digital Assets
Last month, Cuban predicted that if the US dollar falls as the global reserve currency, bitcoin could become “a global ‘safe haven’” and a “global currency.” potentially sending the price of bitcoin to a much higher level.
According to Cuban, bitcoin could become what its most ardent supporters “envision” — a means “of protecting our economies… This is already happening in countries facing hyperinflation.”
The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past year, largely due to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leading a bitcoin attack on Wall Street.
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U.Today – Renowned economist and cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff has criticized Michael Saylor’s recent hype about the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies as a strategic treasury asset by corporations.
Michael Saylor, a well-known Bitcoin advocate and president of MicroStrategy, recently shared his enthusiasm on X about the growing adoption of Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.
Citing a comment made by Bitcoin investor Bill Miller in a recent interview with CNBC, Saylor tweeted: “We now have more companies coming forward and saying we will put Bitcoin on our balance sheet as a strategic treasury asset.”
However, not everyone shares Saylor’s enthusiasm. Schiff, a vocal Bitcoin critic and gold bull, was quick to respond with his usual skepticism. In a pointed tweet, Schiff argued: “Bitcoin is neither strategic nor appropriate as a treasury asset. Companies should not risk shareholder funds. They should pay dividends and let shareholders risk their own money.”
Bitcoin enthusiasts are not intimidated
However, Schiff’s criticism shouldn’t deter Bitcoin enthusiasts, who often take Schiff’s words with a pinch of salt. To put things in context, Michael Saylor began buying Bitcoin in 2020 as an inflation hedge and alternative to money. Saylor’s company, MicroStrategy, is among the largest public holders of Bitcoin in the world. As of June 20, it held 226,331 BTC, purchased for around $8.33 billion at an average price of $36,798.
Over the weekend, Schiff was surprised when 87% of the more than 11,000 Bitcoin holders who responded to his X survey said they would not sell any of their Bitcoin even if the price dropped more than 99% to $120. They said not only would they not sell, but that they would continue to buy even when prices dropped.
Schiff unexpectedly revealed that “the main selling point for investors to buy Bitcoin is its excellent past performance record.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,067, having reached all-time highs of nearly $74,000 in mid-March.
In a week of drastic fluctuations, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has retreated from its highs and is currently trading at US$66,250, down 0.9% in European trading.
This volatility comes on the heels of a significant surge above $70,000 earlier in the week, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s ambitious cryptocurrency plans announced in a Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
Trump’s announcement to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve if elected president has temporarily sent the cryptocurrency market into a frenzy.
However, the excitement was short-lived as a series of events unfolded which caused investor sentiment to sour.
A significant sell-off of about 8% was triggered when the US Marshals Service moved $2 billion in Bitcoin for new wallets.
This move has reignited fears of a potential large-scale liquidation, compounded by lingering concerns over a possible Bitcoin liquidation from Mt. Gox. Early this morning, Mt. Gox administrator transferred US$2.2 billion value of your BTC assets in a new wallet.
Meanwhile, the US Bitcoin ETF spot market is showing signs of fluctuation, according to data from SoSo Value. On July 30, Bitcoin spot funds experienced their first net outflow in five days, totaling $18.3 million.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw outflows of $73.6 million, while the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $74.9 million in inflows. But outflows from other funds left the category in the red at the end of Tuesday’s trading session. The total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs currently stands at a substantial $58.5 billion.
In other crypto news, Ripple (XRP) is up 8.6% in the past 24 hours, hitting over 64 cents – its highest point since March 25, according to CoinGecko. data.
This rally comes amid a scheduled token unlock and growing optimism around a potential deal in the long-running SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
The crypto community is closely watching the SEC’s actions, particularly its intention to amend its complaint against Binance regarding “Third-Party Cryptocurrency Securities,” which some interpret as a positive sign for Ripple.
On a market analysis noteSingapore-based cryptocurrency trading desk QCP Capital wrote that while election headlines continue to dominate, several crucial macroeconomic events loom on the horizon.
“Election headlines will continue to be a key focus, but several key macroeconomic events are also on the horizon. Key events starting with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, megacap tech earnings (Apple, Amazon, Meta) throughout the week, and unemployment data on Friday,” QCP Capital wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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