Crypto lobbyists are polluting the US election

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":8.95,"text":"It is not particularly fashionable to point out when Donald Trump gets something right (whether accidentally or not). "},{"start":15.017,"text":"But for the record, back in 2021 he was right about crypto. "},{"start":18.984,"text":"Having two years earlier pointed out that crypto is “not money” and that its value is “based on thin air”, the former president said bitcoin “just seems like a scam”, suggested crypto was “a disaster waiting to happen”, and said “the bitcoins of the world” should be regulated “very, very high” [sic]. "}],[{"start":35.07,"text":"That was less than a year before the world of crypto imploded spectacularly. "},{"start":39.437,"text":"From May 2022 onwards, a series of exchanges, tokens and other crypto projects collapsed in quick succession, wiping out tens of billions of dollars in supposed “value” overnight. "},{"start":49.704,"text":"Crypto prices and the market for “NFTs” — a type of digital token that is just as worthless as any other but pretends to be otherwise — tanked. "},{"start":57.222,"text":"Regulators had not only been failing to regulate crypto “very very high”; they had been asleep at the wheel. "},{"start":62.777,"text":"In December of that year, crypto’s most notorious criminal, the man known as SBF, was arrested on charges of fraud and conspiracy that he would later be given a 25-year prison sentence for. "}],[{"start":74.27000000000001,"text":"But Trump, alas, is no longer right about crypto. "},{"start":78.19900000000001,"text":"As the market recovered, he suddenly went from “not a fan” to seeming positively enamoured. "}],[{"start":83.85000000000001,"text":"He vowed last month to stop Joe Biden’s crusade to crush crypto and said that he would support the right to self-custody — technical language that sounds very unlike something Trump would have come up with himself. "},{"start":94.167,"text":"To the nation’s 50mn crypto holders I say this,” he told a crowd at a libertarian convention. "},{"start":99.67200000000001,"text":"“I will keep [Democratic senator] Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your bitcoin. ”"}],[{"start":105.55000000000001,"text":"It sounded suspiciously like Trump had been having some deep and meaningfuls with the crypto industry. "},{"start":110.76700000000001,"text":"Indeed, a couple of weeks ago he hosted a group of bitcoin miners and industry executives at his private members club/permanent residence Mar-a-Lago. "},{"start":119.00900000000001,"text":"One of those present, the CEO of BTC Inc, told CNBC that “as an industry we are committed to raising over $100mn and turning out more than 5,000,000 voters for the Trump re-election effort”. "},{"start":130.53900000000002,"text":"You can see why Trump might have found their arguments so persuasive. "}],[{"start":134.84,"text":"There is not even any kind of an attempt to hide the influence-buying; quite the opposite in fact. "},{"start":140.032,"text":"On Tuesday, the incumbent congressman for New York Jamaal Bowman was defeated in the most expensive primary election in the Democratic party’s history. "},{"start":147.849,"text":"A vocal critic of Israel, who lost to a pro-Israel rival, he had also voted against pro-crypto bills. "},{"start":153.967,"text":"Afterwards, Tyler Winklevoss — who along with his twin brother Cameron runs the Gemini crypto exchange — gloated on X: “Politicians everywhere need to understand that this is what happens when you pick a fight with the crypto army. ”"}],[{"start":166.1,"text":"Last week, the Winklevoss twins each gave $1mn to the Trump campaign (a portion of which has since been refunded for exceeding maximum individual contribution rules), calling him the “pro-crypto” choice. "},{"start":177.579,"text":"They have also donated $4.9mn to a pro-crypto super Pac — an independent fundraising committee that can receive unlimited funds from individuals, companies and other groups — named “Fairshake”. "},{"start":188.422,"text":"This has already raised more than $177mn, second only to the “Make America Great Again” super Pac, with just over $178mn. "}],[{"start":198.74,"text":"Fairshake was one of the big contributors to Tuesday’s New York primary, spending over $2mn on ads targeting Bowman. "},{"start":205.769,"text":"Along with the Winklevii, a number of other crypto billionaires and their firms have contributed huge sums to Fairshake, including crypto firm Ripple, which has donated a tidy $45mn; crypto exchange Coinbase, with just over $45mn; and “techno-optimist” Marc Andreessen and business partner Ben Horowitz, who between them and their business have donated almost $70mn. "}],[{"start":227.86,"text":"According to data compiled by AdImpact, Fairshake and its affiliate pro-crypto super Pacs, “Defend American Jobs” and “Protect Progress”, have already spent more than $37mn on ads in the primaries. "},{"start":239.52700000000002,"text":"Many of the crypto-friendly candidates they back have won their respective House and Senate races. "}],[{"start":245.17000000000002,"text":"We should be very concerned indeed about the influence and scale of this rapidly growing crypto lobby. "},{"start":250.61200000000002,"text":"Apart from anything else, the lobbyists do not represent the interests of America’s crypto holders. "},{"start":255.90400000000002,"text":"Regulators are not going after retail investors, but the crypto firms whose founders have made billions by creaming off profits from those retail investors. "}],[{"start":264.76,"text":"Their allegiance to politicians looks similarly uneven. "},{"start":268.17699999999996,"text":"And the idea that a group of bitcoin executives can provide Trump with 5mn voters is a farce that even he must be able to see through. "}],[{"start":275.14,"text":""}]],"url":"https://creatives.ftacademy.cn/album/161175-1719753163.mp3"}