Jump Crypto Adds $10M to Industry’s U.S. Political War Chest, Raising PAC to $169M

Jump
Crypto
put
another
$10
million
into
the
U.S.
political
action
committee
(PAC)
that’s
seeking
to
rush
as
many
pro-crypto
members
into
Congress
as
possible
to
achieve
legislation
the
industry
is
after,
a
spokesman
for
the
PAC
confirmed.

The
total
of
$15
million
from
Jump,
a
Chicago-based
investment
firm,
means
almost
$169
million
so
far
has
been
amassed
by
Fairshake
and
its
affiliated
PACs
as
of
Wednesday,
according
to
spokesman
Josh
Vlasto,
giving
the
young
industry
one
of
the
most
potent
campaign-finance
operations
in
the
2024
elections.
The
so-called

super
PACs
have
been
flooding
primaries
with
large-scale
ad
spending
and
seeing
many
of
its
favored
candidates
cruising
toward
what
will
be
likely
general-election
wins
in
November.

“The
crypto
and
blockchain
communities
have
truly
come
together
to
form
a
sustainable
bipartisan
coalition
and
an
effective
operation
that
is
built
for
the
long
term,”
Vlasto
said
in
a
statement.
“We
will
continue
to
support
candidates
who
are
committed
to
getting
things
done
and
working
with
the
industry
to
pass
responsible
regulation
that
drives
innovation,
creates
jobs,
and
sustains
America’s
global
leadership.”

A
spokeswoman
for
Jump
declined
to
comment
on
the
donation.
The
company’s
eight-digit
addition
follows
a
recent
series
of
matching
$25-million
follow-up
donations
from
big
crypto
firms
Coinbase
Inc.
(COIN),

Ripple
and
Andreessen
Horowitz
(a16z).

Fairshake
and
its
brethren
(two
PACs
called
Defend
American
Jobs
and
Protect
Progress)
were
still
holding
onto
$109
million
as
of
the
May
31
filing
with
the
Federal
Election
Commission,
Vlasto
said,
with
less
than
five
months
to
go
before
the
final
voting.
The
spokesman
confirmed
the
PAC
has
no
plans
to
support
presidential
candidates,
so
the
aim
is
to
find
proven
congressional
incumbents
and
crypto-friendly
candidates.

The
sitting
members
of
Congress
are
suddenly
more
easy
to
evaluate
on
that
score.
Previously,
there
weren’t
a
lot
of
practical
measures
of
crypto
support
to
help
grade
politicians
in
the
House
of
Representatives
and
Senate,
but
both
chambers
have
now
been
through
votes
on
digital
assets
efforts.

In
May,
the
House

passed
the
Financial
Innovation
and
Technology
for
the
21st
Century
Act
(FIT21)
that’s
the
first
wide-reaching
crypto
oversight
legislation
to
clear
either
of
the
chambers
of
Congress.
Its
chances
in
the
Senate
are
limited
–
depending
on
whether
key
lawmakers
can
somehow
package
it
with
a
must-pass
bill.
But
a
side
bonus
for
the
industry
was
that
it
immediately
learned
which
of
the
435
members
of
the
House
are
pulling
for
crypto
regulations.

Also
in
May,

both
chambers
voted
to
reverse
a
contentious
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
crypto
account
policy,
Staff
Accounting
Bulletin
No.
121
(SAB
121).
The
effort
was
smacked
down
by
a
veto
from
President
Joe
Biden,
but
it
revealed
11
Democrats
in
the
Senate
were
willing
to
join
Republicans
in
bucking
the
SEC
policy
and
the
White
House’s
preference.

Both
efforts
saw
a
higher-than-expected
showing
of
support
from
Democrats,
and
the
tallies
are
being
used
to
assess
lawmakers.
Stand
With
Crypto,
an
advocacy
group
started
by
Coinbase,
maintains
a
grading
system
for
politicians.
The
“D”
grade
for
Sen.
Mark
Warner
(D-Va.),
for
instance,
reflects
his
no
vote
on
the
SAB
121
resolution,
while
the
“B”
grade
for
Sen.
Chuck
Grassley
(R-Iowa)
shows
he
was
for
it.

“Recent
votes
have
helped
us
educate
our
advocates
on
where
politicians
stand
on
crypto,”
said
Sabrina
Siddiqui,
a
spokesman
for
the
group,
in
a
statement.
She
said
Stand
With
Crypto
reached
more
than
a
million
online
members
several
months
earlier
than
anticipated
because
“people
were
coalescing
behind
these
key
votes.”

The
organization
just
added
to
its

slate
of
endorsements
this
week,
all
22
of
them
sporting
“A”
grades.

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