The real winner of the 2024 US elections will be crypto

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Crypto is the darling of the 2024 election and I’m definitely here for it. For the first time in history, two presidential candidates are actively participating in crypto voting. Donald Trump addressed crypto voters at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, which was met with a surprising vote of support from the crypto community. Not wanting to give the crypto vote to Trump, Democrats held a crypto reset meeting with prominent industry leaders and also launched Crypto for Harris.

However, in the not-too-distant past, many people declared cryptocurrency “dead.” The industry has endured a brutal crypto winter in 2022, losing more than two trillion in market value and facing global scrutiny from regulators. Now, two years later, crypto has emerged as the dominant player in the 2024 elections. The game is starting.

SEC’s villain origin story

Crypto’s emergence as a key player on the political scene has its origins in its hostile disputes with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Binance lawyers, Gary Gensler approached Binance to become a consultant in 2019, but the company rejected his offer.

Since 2021, there has been a significant increase in SEC crypto-related litigation since President Joe Biden appointed Gary Gensler SEC Chairman/Biden. Coincidence? I think no. Here are three cases that prove the SEC is indeed the arch-villain of cryptocurrencies:

First, in the Telegram case, the company had to pay over a billion US dollars from the token raise. It heralds the reign of SAFTs, the Simple Agreement for Future Token contracts, and the ICO boom in the US. Second, the Ripple Labs case ultimately revealed that Ripple (XRP) is a security on the institutional side but not a security on the retail side. Third, the BitMEX case, where the arrest of the founders of such top exchanges for AML/KYC violations (often a slap on the wrist) shook the industry.

The legal actions taken against these companies were like warning shots fired by the SEC and foreshadowed the heavy-handed intervention they would use against major crypto companies.

Transition: From friend to foe

When the crypto winter arrived, after Terra Luna crashed, public opinion was that bad actors in space needed to be eliminated and held accountable. Seizing the opportunity, the SEC began its crypto crackdown, handing out notices to Wells like Halloween candy, forcing some companies to pull out of U.S. operations or close stores to stop the bleeding.

Even companies once considered allies have become targets. The irony is that the SEC accused Coinbase of operating an illegal exchange. Coinbase acted as a custodian of the US government and worked directly with the US Marshals Service to sell Bitcoin (BTC) seized from the “illegal” website Silk Road.

This is a rather strange “UNO reverse” move by the SEC, as Coinbase is US-based, holds a BitLicense, and is a publicly traded company.

Crypto strikes back

One notable change is that the crypto industry has gone on the attack, accusing federal regulators of refusing to create reasonable crypto regulations and guidelines for the industry. Gemini COO Marshall Beard expressed frustration in an interview with Bloomberg TV: “We want broader regulation, we’ve been doing this for a decade, and the US doesn’t have a broad crypto regulatory framework.”

Key players in the crypto space have strengthened their government relations efforts by partnering with lobbying firms and donating campaign dollars to crypto-friendly candidates. Some even responded by filing lawsuits against the SEC.

Crypto political campaign contributions increased significantly from the 2020 election cycle through 2022, according to Open Secrets, a campaign finance tracking site. Almost 50% of corporate donations come from crypto companies. On top of that, Fairshake is the largest Super PAC funded by the crypto industry this campaign cycle, raising over $200 million. Consolidating the dominance and influence of crypto in the 2024 elections.

Source: OpenSecrets Important voting block in swing states

Crypto voters are front and center in the 2024 US Presidential election. Perianne Boring, CEO and founder of the Digital Chamber of Commerce, accurately predicted this scenario in a 2022 interview with CNBC:

“I think the turning point for crypto and politics will probably be in 2024, and I’m thinking about the next presidential election. “The candidate who can figure out how to leverage blockchain to provide access to the crypto community will be our next president.”

Political analysts predict that the US Presidential election will be a very tight race in which small factions among the electorate may hold the key to victory. The crypto industry has taken this into account by going to great lengths to position crypto as a wedge issue, collecting extensive data and research on undecided voters.

Data from a recent Harris poll shows that one-fifth of battleground state voters see crypto as a major issue. The industry as a whole has crypto voters who are very engaged, very active, and very aware of their power in the upcoming elections.

Stand With Crypto, a pro-crypto advocacy group, has already amassed close to 1.5 million online registrations. The America Loves Crypto Tour will hit five battleground states in September to increase participation from crypto voters.

We play every side to win

Crypto lobby groups have pledged allegiance to neither party and actively donated to both Republicans and Democrats. But that didn’t stop crypto leaders like Arthur Hayes and Charles Hoskinson from weighing in on the election. Some go as far as supporting candidates.

While the Winklevoss twins lend their support to Donald Trump, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen supports Kamala Harris. The visibility of the crypto industry has surpassed anything seen in previous campaign cycles. He positioned his community as an important voting demographic for candidates to win their votes.

Whichever candidate wins, crypto has proven itself to be the real winner of the 2024 election, bouncing back from a brutal crypto winter and an equally tough onslaught from federal regulators: Going from being completely written off by the mainstream media to a masterful mastery of D.C. politics, it is rising from the ashes like a phoenix.

Courage Kimber

Courage Kimber is a web3 strategist and blockchain consultant. Courage has been working in the web industry for over a decade. During this time, he gained a wealth of experience in web strategy management, e-commerce and digital transformation. In recent years, he has entered the blockchain space, advising companies and C-Suite executives on content strategy and management. He is extremely passionate about his job and takes pride in helping others.