Stand with Crypto, an advocacy group for cryptocurrency voters, reached 1 million members on Wednesday as crypto proponents pressured legislators to build a new regulatory framework for the digital asset market while avoiding stricter compliance requirements.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who helped start Stand With Crypto in August, said the group’s quick growth highlighted cryptocurrency users’ voting power.
image credit: coinbase
“It’s a much bigger voting bloc than most people probably would have anticipated,” Armstrong told Reuters.
This year, the cryptocurrency industry is investing tens of millions of dollars in U.S. elections to support crypto-friendly lawmakers and defeat regulators.
On Monday, Coinbase donated $25 million to Fairshake, matching recent donations from Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz.
File photo: Wei: Definition in Cryptocurrency, How It Works, and History
Stand with Crypto targets swing state voters and has approximately 24,000 members in Georgia, where Democratic President Joe Biden defeated Republican Donald Trump by 11,779 votes in 2020, and over 16,000 in Arizona, where Biden won by little over 10,000 votes.
Armstrong attributed the group’s membership growth to frustration over Biden’s May 31 veto of a measure to overturn the SEC’s accounting bulletin on crypto assets and strong support for the Republican-sponsored bill to legalize digital currencies.
Despite White House opposition, the Republican-led House of Representatives enacted the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act last month with bipartisan backing. SEC Chair Gary Gensler cautioned that the law could increase investor and market risks.
A source claimed Coinbase officials have spoken with White House and Biden administration officials on the concerns for months.
Armstrong stated he wasn’t supporting a presidential candidate since crypto issues needed bipartisan support to enact legislation.
Given bipartisan support for the proposal, Biden’s veto last week was “a bad political move,” he added.
I think anti-crypto politics is poor politics. Doing that upsets a huge number of Americans who’ve utilized this technology, but you’re not winning over any voters,”.
Armstrong said Coinbase thinks 52 million Americans have used cryptocurrency, one in five Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Industry rules were unclear, which frustrated many.
“They’re looking to elect representatives that are aligned with their values,” she stated. A section of the fast-rising “voter bloc” may vote in the November presidential election on digital asset issues, he said.
The White House and Biden campaign declined comment.
In recent weeks, Biden’s team has increased its industry and cryptocurrency outreach, a source said.
Trump’s campaign opened crypto donations last month. The Biden campaign did not immediately confirm whether it accepted such donations.
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