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Stand With Crypto creates electoral war chest and supports candidates seeking open positions
The fast-growing organization of cryptocurrency supporters, Stand With Crypto, is getting into campaign finance by opening its own political action committee (PAC), which will make direct donations to endorsed congressional candidates, the strategist said. Chief Nick Carr. His initial list of endorsements will include five candidates seeking open seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, although the money will have to wait. The Stand With Crypto effort is an “associated PAC,” meaning it is supported by the nonprofit group’s own members, and each of them will be limited to contributions of $5,000. Once they begin adding money to the PAC’s coffers, the committee can begin making direct donations to candidates as they face the final months of the primaries and the big fight of the November general election, the group announced Friday.
“I think it’s amazing to see the growth of Stand With Crypto in such a short time,” Carr said in an interview with CoinDesk. His organization, started in August 2023, now reports more than 443,000 people signing. Separately from the PAC, the organization says it has raised more than $86 million to conduct advocacy operations, which have included supporter events, town halls, and a presidential candidates forum.
Although considered a grassroots organization, some of his main donations came from corporate names such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Coinbase launched the group last year.
What separates the new PAC from other prominent crypto campaign finance efforts is that the others have been dominated by a handful of large digital asset companies donating $10 million or more to Fairshake and affiliated PACs. These organizations target candidates with unlimited indirect support deployed independently of their campaigns. Stand With Crypto’s PAC, as a political arm of the 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organization, will donate directly to candidates, Carr said, targeting “individuals who have demonstrated an impressive knowledge and commitment to crypto and blockchain innovation in America.” The amounts will be limited by the restrictions that accompany direct donations. And unlike financial support for the organization itself, donating to the PAC will require donors to publicly identify themselves.
The group supported a councilman in Oregon, Democrat Eddy Morales, who is heading into the congressional primary in a few weeks and said on his campaign website that “artificial intelligence, blockchain and other technologies are still emerging and allowing people to build wealth, own your own data, and have a seat at the table of the economy of the future,” adding that he would “focus on creating a regulatory framework that provides clarity to these industries.” It also highlights Troy Downing, a Republican from Montana who is the state securities watchdog and is running for a House seat amid a crowded field ahead of the June primary.
The group also endorsed three candidates that other crypto PACs had previously favored: Alabama Democrat Shomari Numbers; Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who I just won his party’s primary this week to run for a Senate seat; and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice seeking the Senate seat left open by outgoing Senator Joe Manchin (DW.V.) Endorsements will continue with future selections, Carr said, and the organization already has a number of incumbent candidates to choose from because it maintains a ranking of members of Congress based on encryption compatibility.