Stand With Crypto sets electoral war chest, supports candidates seeking open seats

• Cryptocurrency advocacy group Stand With Crypto is opening its own political action committee ahead of this year’s elections.

• The group’s members themselves will support the PAC, although their contributions are limited to $5,000.

The fast-growing organization of cryptocurrency supporters, Stand With Crypto, is getting into campaign finance with the opening of its own political action committee (PAC) that will make direct donations to endorsed congressional candidates, said chief strategist Nick Carr. His first endorsement slate will include five candidates seeking open seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, though the money will have to wait. The Stand With Crypto effort is an “associate PAC,” meaning it is supported by members of the nonprofit group and each of them will be limited to contributions of $5,000. Once they begin adding money to the PAC’s coffers, the committee will be able to begin making direct donations to candidates as they face the final months of primaries and the big competition of November’s general election, the group announced Friday.

“I think it’s incredible to see the growth of Stand With Crypto in such a short span of time,” Carr said in an interview with CoinDesk. His organization, which started in August 2023, now reports More than 443,000 people signed up. Separately from the PAC, the organization says it has raised more than $86 million to conduct advocacy efforts, which have included supporter events, town halls and a Presidential Candidates Forum.

Although advertised as a grassroots organization, some of his major donations they come from corporate names, like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Coinbase launched the group last year.

What distinguishes the new PAC from other major crypto campaign finance efforts is that the others have been dominated by a handful of major digital asset firms, which have donated $10 million or more to Fairshake and affiliated PACs. These organizations target candidates with unlimited indirect support distributed independently of their campaigns. The Stand With Crypto PAC, as the political arm of the 501(c)(4) classified “social welfare” organization, will donate directly to candidates, Carr said, targeting “individuals who have demonstrated a knowledge and impressive commitment to cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation in America.” The amounts will be limited by constraints deriving from direct donations. And unlike financial support for the organization itself, donating to the PAC will require donors to publicly identify themselves.

The story continues

The group endorsed an Oregon city councilman, Democrat Eddy Morales, who is heading to a congressional primary there in a couple of weeks, and said on his campaign website that “artificial intelligence, blockchain and other technologies are still emerging and allow people to build wealth, own their data and have a seat at the table of the economy of the future,” adding that “he will focus on creating a regulatory framework that offers clarity to these industries.” Also highlights Troy Downing, a Republican from Montana who is the guarantor of government bonds and is running for a House seat there amid a crowded field facing a June primary.

The group also endorsed three candidates that other crypto PACs had previously favored: Alabama Democratic Shomari Figures; Representative Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who I just won his party’s primary this week to win a Senate seat; and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, seeking the Senate seat left open by outgoing Senator Joe Manchin (DW.V.) Sponsorships will continue with future selections, Carr said, and the organization already has a good number of incumbent candidates to choose from, because it maintains a classification of members of Congress based on cryptocurrency compatibility.

Source