By Elizabeth Howcroft and Hannah Lang
AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK (Reuters) -The president of a U.S. cryptocurrency company is “optimistic” that a lobbying effort by the crypto industry will yield results in this year's U.S. election, after her company helped the industry to lead record fundraising to support political candidates. that are cryptocurrency friendly. San Francisco-based Ripple is the second-largest donor to Fairshake, the so-called super PAC, which has raised $92.9 million in a bid to influence November's congressional elections in favor of the crypto industry. , according to OpenSecrets, a research group. that tracks influence on politics. Super PACs backed by the cryptocurrency sector have raised more than $102 million so far this cycle, the third most of all super PACs involved in the 2024 election, according to data from Public Citizen.
Independent political action committees known as super PACs can raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, and then spend unlimited sums to openly advocate 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 goal: to support candidates who support the regulations desired by the crypto industry. cryptography.
“I think as an industry, especially for us U.S.-based companies, we are frustrated by the U.S. lag in setting rules,” he said. “This whole dynamic of setting rules through compliance… is really unproductive and gets us nowhere.”
When asked if he was optimistic that the American crypto industry's voice would be heard, Long said: “I'm optimistic, yes. I'm hopeful.”
The cryptocurrency industry is increasingly trying to influence U.S. lawmakers as it faces increased scrutiny from regulators and politicians, especially since bankruptcies of major cryptocurrency companies in 2022 spooked investors, exposed fraud and wrongdoing. behaviors and left millions of cryptocurrency investors out of money.
Several leading crypto companies have been sued by the US securities regulator for alleged securities law violations, including Ripple. In July, a federal judge ruled that Ripple's sale of its token, XRP, to sophisticated buyers amounted to illegal sales of unregistered securities, but also ruled that XRP sold on public exchanges did not meet the legal definition of security.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking fines and penalties totaling $2 billion in its case against the company, Ripple said.
Crypto groups are pushing for lawmakers to pass a bill that would restrict SEC 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 cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:) and Ripple, with the rest coming from venture capitalists. The industry's own data, however, suggests that lobbyists could face difficulties in gaining support. A survey by American cryptocurrency company Digital Currency Group published in May found that only 14% of voters in US states whose results could influence their cryptocurrency Democratic or Republican and 69% of them feel negative towards cryptocurrencies, compared to 31% who feel positive. “While the majority of voters are dissatisfied with the current financial system, only a minority think that cryptocurrencies are the future of transactions or a new form of prosperity,” the report says. US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, last week vetoed what he described as a Republican-led resolution that would “inappropriately limit the SEC's ability to establish appropriate guardrails and address future issues” related to crypto assets. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has previously called the crypto industry a “wild west,” rife with fraud and risk to investors.
Ripple's Long said the SEC seemed to have been on a “war path” with the crypto industry in recent years, and that everyone was hoping for a “change in tone.”
