Key takeaways:
Pro-crypto politicians gained ground in Congress, signaling potential for crypto-friendly legislation in the U.S.
Anti-crypto Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown lost his seat, a major win for the crypto industry.
Despite strong lobbying efforts, Elizabeth Warren was re-elected, remaining a powerful anti-crypto voice.
Montana’s Senate seat flipped to Republican Tim Sheehy, who vows to fight against central bank digital currencies.
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin narrowly kept her seat, continuing her anti-crypto stance despite strong opposition.
Countless column inches (and pixels) have been devoted to Donald Trump’s mega MAGA win in the presidential election — and what it means for crypto. But this wasn’t the only consequential result to emerge on November 5.
For many months, industry groups have been carefully scrutinizing how politicians on Capitol Hill have approached the issue of digital assets and how they should be regulated. Why? Because several members of the House and Senate were also up for re-election.
Organizations such as Stand With Crypto have graded influential Democrats and Republicans based on their public statements about Bitcoin, along with past voting behavior. Vast resources were then thrown at supporting rival candidates with a more bullish outlook.
It’s fair to say this strategy has had mixed success — but overall, Congress now boasts a greater number of politicians who are bullish about this still-nascent asset class, and interested in pushing through crypto-literate legislation that’ll benefit firms and consumers alike.
This matters a great deal, especially considering that an estimated 52 million Americans now own crypto. Here, we’re going to dive into some of the most consequential contests, examine their outcomes, and ask what this means for you.
Source: StandWithCrypto.org
Sherrod Brown Out
Without question, the crypto sector’s biggest scalp on the night was Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who failed to secure a fourth term.
This is huge. The Democrat was the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, and bristled against any attempts to relax regulations against digital asset firms.
Brown was fearful about the scams and fraud proliferating in the sector — as well as the risk that consumers could lose substantial amounts of money.
And while some of these concerns may have been well-founded, the crypto industry viewed him as a roadblock to passing literate legislation that would help the sector innovate and grow.
Estimates suggest that a total of $500 million was spent on this race, which led to blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno flipping this seat for the Republicans with 50.2% of the vote.
A whopping $800,000 a day was reportedly being spent on TV adverts championing Moreno as someone who would protect social security and clamp down on immigration.
Last year, Brown had seemed unfazed by the efforts to oust him from power, with his campaign vowing to stand firm against special interests. He had told Politico:
“These corporate interests are going to attack me for standing up to their illicit financing of terrorism and fentanyl? I mean, bring ’em on if that’s what they’re going to do.”
As the result became clear, Brown gave a concession speech where he said he was “sad but never giving up,” and vowed to continue fighting for Ohio.
For his part, Moreno has vowed to “lead the fight” for crypto in the corridors of power — arguing that many of the politicians against digital assets don’t understand how they work.
Source: StandWithCrypto.org
Elizabeth Warren Stays
Vast amounts of cash were also earmarked for other key Senate races to no avail.
Lobbyists spent millions of dollars in an attempt to oust Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, but were financially outgunned by her warchest.
She acknowledged what was happening in a debate against her Republican rival, and said during a debate: “If John Deaton has a chance to go to Washington, his crypto buddies are going to want a return on their investment. He’s going to fight for crypto.”
Ripple Labs and the Winklevoss twins were among those pouring money into a PAC centered on this race, which Warren won with a staggering 59.5% of the vote.
While her share of the vote was down slightly compared with the 60.34% secured in 2018, the number of people who supported her candidacy rose by about 320,000.
Now back in office for another six years, Warren will undoubtedly continue to be a thorn in the side of the crypto industry — and will carry on pushing for aggressive anti-money laundering measures and Know Your Customer checks.
But given 17 pro-crypto candidates have now joined the Senate, and the loss of an ally in the form of Sherrod Brown, she might find it harder to corral the support needed to effect change.
Source: StandWithCrypto.org
Jon Tester Turfed
Another significant development comes from Montana, where Republican Tim Sheehy managed to flip a Senate seat held by Democrat Jon Tester.
Sheehy is now vowing to help ban a central bank digital currency from ever being launched in the US, even though the Federal Reserve isn’t working on one yet.
He also accused Tester of joining Joe Biden’s attempts to kill the sector and de-bank founders, while highlighting a 2022 interview where the Democrat described crypto as “bulls***.”
Source: StandWithCrypto.org
Tammy Baldwin Back
In Stand With Crypto’s eyes, Democratic Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin is strongly against digital assets because she voted against a bill that would have overturned SAB 121, which critics claimed amounted to regulatory overreach on the SEC’s part.
By contrast, her Republican rival Eric Hovde has spoken of his support for DeFi — and declared he was bullish on BTC, attending the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. He told Politico:
“I believe the United States needs to provide a regulatory structure for legitimate actors involved in Bitcoin and Ethereum in this country so that shady people like Sam Bankman-Fried, drug traffickers and scam artists can’t take advantage of consumers. Nor am I supportive of thousands of different junk coins that have no value being created.”
Baldwin ended up being re-elected by the narrowest of margins with a 49.33% share — just 25,000 votes or so ahead of Hovde.
The post How Many Anti-Crypto Politicians Were Re-Elected? appeared first on Cryptonews.
