Fairshake, a federal crypto super political action committee (PAC) that is heavily investing in this election year’s members for Congress that are pro-crypto, now has $25 million more in funding thanks to Ripple. In 2023, Ripple contributed an additional $25 million to Fairshake, bringing its total contributions to the political action committee (PAC) to an incredible $50 million.
The almost $100 million that Fairshake has garnered from prominent participants in the cryptocurrency field, such as asset manager ARK Invest, venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, is largely made up of donations from Ripple.
The 2024 elections are viewed by many in the cryptocurrency industry as a crucial chance to elect pro-crypto politicians and remove unfriendly ones, like Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-Calif.), a close ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whose Senate bid was derailed by a $10 million campaign from Fairshake. “Part of an industry-wide effort to advance policies that support the next generation of financial innovation in the U.S.” is how Ripple described its commitment to Fairshake in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) strategy of “trying to regulate crypto by enforcement has failed” and that the country needs to take immediate action to create a “positive regulatory landscape” for cryptocurrency that will promote innovation, the announcement specially addressed the role of federal regulators.
“Our contributions to Fairshake are just one of the many ways Ripple will actively invest in educating voters on the role crypto will play in the future and the dangers of the anti-crypto stance some policymakers are clinging to in Washington,” stated Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, in a press statement
“Unelected regulators aggressively aim to obstruct innovation and economic progress that millions of Americans depend on. Ripple will not stand by while this happens, and the cryptocurrency industry should too. Until significant progress is made, the cryptocurrency sector plans to continue making significant investments in this endeavour. An intense legal battle that has lasted for years was started by the SEC’s 2020 accusations against Ripple for breaking federal securities laws.