Activity tagged "crypto lobby"

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90% of crypto's Illinois primary spending failed to achieve its objective

The cryptocurrency industry super PACs dumped $14.2 million into the Illinois primaries. 90% of that – $12.8 million – was wasted, in that it went to opposing Democratic candidates who won their primaries (Stratton in the Senate race, Ford in H-07) or supporting their opponents.

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The Fairshake pro-crypto super PAC network spent $10 million to oppose Senate candidate Juliana Stratton and $2.5 million to oppose H-07 candidate La Shawn Ford, both of whom won their primaries

The PACs' only victories in the state were where they contributed money towards outcomes that were already highly likely. They opposed Robert Peters (H-02), who had been polling in third place and ultimately received 12% of the vote. They supported Bean (who was leading the polls in H-08) and incumbent Budzinski (H-13).

Sadly this early spending in Illinois used up less than 6% of what the super PACs have on hand, so buckle up for a looong eight months.

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The Coinbase-backed "Stand With Crypto" advocacy group has declared Illinois Senate candidate Juliana Stratton to be "strongly against crypto" solely because she made a statement criticizing the $5.5 million the crypto industry had already spent to oppose her

Stand With Crypto profile page Juliana Stratton Democratic Political Figure from Illinois Crypto letter grade of F Strongly against crypto Based on 1 statement and 0 votes. Vote History No recent votes. Statements Juliana Stratton @JulianaStratton x.com logo We have the momentum. Raja Krishnamoorthi and his allies know that, and it's why his MAGA-backed crypto bros are dumping $7 million into this race to try to stop me. Illinoisans aren't buying it. pic.x.com/5iqNcwSvWM tweet image @JulianaStratton Mar 3, 2026 on X Very anti-crypto
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 There are a number of senators who’ve taken a look at this but there seems to be no will to move forward because No. 1, people don’t understand A.I., but because, No. 2, we’ve seen the entry of really big political money tied to A.I. Just like the crypto space, a lot of senators are scared to stick their neck out even though action is being demanded of us on this issue.

Fascinating comment on AI regulation from Elissa Slotkin of all people, who received $10 million — the second-most support — from crypto PACs in 2024.

“The Future We Feared Is Already Here”.
Ezra Klein in The New York Times.
The showdown between the Pentagon and Anthropic is a window into how unprepared we are for the questions we are facing.
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Great background on why Coinbase sank the crypto bill they’d just spent months lobbying for, and the fundamental conflict between the banking lobby and the crypto lobby when it comes to stablecoin interest.

“Monopoly Round-Up: The Slow Death of Banking in America”.
Matt Stoller in BIG by Matt Stoller.
Crypto interests came after the local banker last week in a bitter Congressional fight. They didn't win, but it's not over. Plus, the "Mamdani effect" is real, and Canada aligns with China.