Crypto Executives Invest Money in Longshot Attempt to Unseat Elizabeth Warren

BOSTON – Crypto executives are finding a new investment opportunity: the Republican rival of their industry’s future chief critic in Congress, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

More than half a dozen prominent cryptocurrency executives and enthusiasts have donated to John Deaton, an unnamed politician who achieved folk hero status in the crypto community for fighting the SEC in a landmark crypto case last year. He moved to Massachusetts in January and registered as a Republican to face Warren.

Deaton has virtually no chance of unseating Warren in deep blue Massachusetts. But that doesn’t stop crypto proponents from personally spending to boost it — and potentially weaken their opponent on Capitol Hill.

Donations come from industry boosters including Anthony Scaramucci, the Winklevoss twins and executives at crypto firm Ripple.

“Elizabeth Warren represents all the worst things about American politicians,” said Scaramucci, Trump’s former White House communications director and founder of the investment firm Skybridge Capital. “It’s no longer about what’s right or wrong for the country, but what’s left. So let’s work as hard as we can to spend as much money as we can and raise as much as we can to defeat it.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the company’s executive chairman and co-founder Chris Larsen shelled out the maximum contribution of $6,600 — half for the primary and half for the general election, according to Deaton’s campaign. Deaton’s amicus brief in the SEC’s enforcement case against the company helped build his notoriety in the crypto world.

Scaramucci, the cryptoevangelist who recently featured Deaton on his podcast, has also reached Deaton’s limit.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who co-founded the troubled cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, shelled out $6,600 each. Two other crypto executives, Charles Hoskinson, founder of Ethereum and Cardano, and Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Casa, donated the primary maximum of $3,300, according to data provided by Deaton’s campaign.

Deaton has also been endorsed by Mark Cuban, who has criticized the SEC’s approach to crypto enforcement, and Perianne Boring, founder and chief executive of the Chamber of Digital Commerce representing the blockchain industry, his campaign said.

The donations come as the crypto industry is in the midst of a high-cost effort to influence the 2024 elections in its favor. A network of crypto super PACs that started the year with more than $80 million in the bank has spent millions boosting industry allies and weeding out potential critics. Ripple and the Winklevoss twins are major supporters of the group PAC, which includes Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress.

The crypto PAC group said its next targets include high-profile Senate races in Ohio and Montana, where Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown It is Jon Tester – both cryptoskeptics – face difficult re-elections in states won by former President Donald Trump in 2020.

The elections carry major risks for the crypto industry, which is pushing hard for legislation that would help legitimize digital assets and review the way they are regulated.

And Warren, a prominent crypto skeptic, is a prime target. Massachusetts’ senior senator staunchly opposed the industry-backed legislation and instead pushed for a regulatory crackdown that would strengthen anti-money laundering rules.

Deaton, a former Marine who opened a law firm in Rhode Island representing asbestos victims, is not explicitly making his case for encryption. But as Warren continues her attempts to strengthen oversight of the industry, Deaton is turning his efforts into a campaign cudgel. He hit Warren this week for speaking out against an effort in the House to pass legislation that would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to assets like the US dollar. Warren cited concerns about illicit financing and warned that stablecoins pose a risk to the US financial system.

Still, tens of thousands of dollars from the crypto world won’t be enough to sustain Deaton in his battle against Warren. Deaton lent himself $1 million of the $1.3 million he will report raising in the first six weeks of his bid, and has about $1.2 million in cash on hand. Warren, a former presidential candidate and national champion of progressive causes, raised more than $1.1 million from 29,622 donors in the first quarter of the year, with 99 percent of those contributions coming in at $100 or less. A driving force in fundraising, she has more than $4.4 million stashed away in her campaign coffers, according to her campaign.

Warren’s campaign said in a prepared statement that her re-election effort is fueled by small donors, “not special interests trying to promote candidates. It builds on her strong track record of delivering big wins for working families, including student debt relief and more than $50 billion in federal investment for Massachusetts.”

And while Deaton is benefiting from both his crypto support and his ties to Republican Charlie Baker’s orbit — one of the architects of his campaign is a longtime political adviser to the highly popular former governor, and so are his financial and election advisers. are Baker alumni. political operation – he remains relatively unknown outside of these activist circles. He has never run for public office before.

He may also face a primary challenger within the crypto community. Ian Cain, president of the Quincy City Council, south of Boston, and a blockchain enthusiast who co-founded technology incubator QUBIC Labs, has filed paperwork to run for the seat as a Republican. Cain is currently trying to collect enough signatures to go to the polls.

This story originally appeared on Politico.com read the full story