Crypto industry’s lobbying drive will pay off in US elections, Ripple president says

By Elizabeth Howcroft and Hannah Lang

AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The chairman of U.S. crypto firm Ripple is “optimistic” the crypto industry’s lobbying efforts will pay off in this year’s U.S. elections after his company helped the industry lead a record fundraising campaign for political support. candidates. San Francisco-based Ripple is the second-largest donor to Fairshake, a so-called super PAC that raised $92.9 million in an effort to sway November’s congressional elections in favor of the crypto industry, according to OpenSecrets, a research group. follows influence in politics. Super PACs backed by the cryptocurrency industry have raised more than $102 million so far this cycle, according to data from Public Citizen; This ranks third among all super PACs participating in the 2024 elections.

Independent political action committees, known as super PACs, can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, associations, and individuals, then spend unlimited sums publicly advocating for or against political candidates.

Speaking at the Money20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam on Tuesday, Ripple President Monica Long told Reuters that the PAC is bipartisan and has a single focus: supporting candidates who support the regulations the crypto industry wants.

“I think we’re frustrated as an industry, especially for US-based companies, with how late the US has been in making rules,” he said. “This whole dynamic of rule-making through enforcement… is really counterproductive and gets us nowhere.”

“I’m optimistic, yes. I’m hopeful,” Long said when asked if he was optimistic that the U.S. crypto industry’s voice would be heard.

The crypto industry is increasingly trying to influence U.S. lawmakers as it faces intense scrutiny from regulators and politicians, especially as bankruptcies at major crypto firms in 2022 scare investors, expose fraud and abuse, and leave millions of crypto investors out of pocket.

Several leading crypto firms, including Ripple, have been sued by the US securities regulator for alleged securities law violations. In July, a federal judge ruled that Ripple’s sale of its token, XRP, to knowledgeable buyers amounted to an illegal sale of unregistered securities, but also ruled that XRP sold on public exchanges did not meet the legal definition of a security.

Ripple said that the Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking a total fine of $2 billion in the lawsuit filed against the company.

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Crypto groups are pushing for lawmakers to pass a bill that would restrict the SEC’s oversight of the industry. A report from Public Citizen said that about half of the crypto industry’s political war chest comes from direct corporate spending, primarily from crypto exchanges Coinbase and Ripple, while the rest is contributed by venture capitalists. But the industry’s own data shows lobbyists may face difficulties in winning support. A survey published in May by US crypto company Digital Currency Group found that only 14 percent of voters in US states, whether Democrats or Republicans, have their own cryptocurrency, and 69 percent of them felt negatively towards crypto, compared to those who felt positive. revealed that it was 31 percent. “While most voters are dissatisfied with the current financial system, only a minority think cryptocurrency is the future of transactions or a new path to prosperity,” the report said. U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, last week vetoed the Republican-led decision, which he described as “improperly restricting the SEC’s ability to establish appropriate safeguards and address future issues related to crypto assets.” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has previously called the crypto industry a “Wild West” full of fraud and investor risks.

Ripple’s Long said the SEC appeared to be “on the warpath” with the crypto industry in recent years, and everyone was hoping for a “change in tone.”

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in Amsterdam and Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Matthew Lewis)