The cryptocurrency industry spent a mint to elect pro-crypto candidates during the 2024 campaign cycle — and now, it’s ready to reap the returns.
The industry ramped up its political engagement in a concerted effort to oust regulators it views as overzealous — with multiple agencies at times competing to rein in the industry — and replace them with policymakers who are more focused on spurring crypto’s development in the U.S. than curbing its potential risks.
Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is now calling on President-elect Donald Trump and the new Republican-controlled Congress to quickly pass a law that designates the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the industry’s chief regulator and sets basic ground rules for crypto firms, Emilie Choi, the company’s president and chief operating officer, told the POLITICO Tech podcast.
Coinbase and venture firm Andreeseen Horowitz were the biggest financial backers of Fairshake, a pro-crypto super PAC that shelled out $173 million during the 2024 election. The group spent aggressively to defeat crypto skeptics, including $40 million alone to unseat former Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
Coinbase has since funneled another $25 million into Fairshake as the company prepares for 2026.
“The message that we’re sending here, to be totally clear, is we’re just getting started,” Choi said. “We will not rest until 100 percent of the members of Congress understand and are pro-crypto.”
The Biden administration has been critical of the crypto industry, particularly in the wake of the collapse of the FTX exchange and fraud conviction of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, leading to tense legal fights between the administration and industry players like Coinbase.
Now, Choi hopes the Trump administration will bring an end to “regulation by enforcement” and the “dumb turf war” between agencies vying to regulate the sector, she said.
Trump himself has flipped on the issue. He tweeted during his first term that cryptocurrency was “not money” and its value was “based on thin air,” but then last yearhis family launched its own token and he pledged to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet.”
He’s also stacked his incoming administration with crypto enthusiasts. Paul Atkins, a consultant with crypto and financial clients, has been chosen to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. And David Sacks, a Silicon Valley investor, will be a key adviser on AI and crypto.
“I would say a couple of years ago, just being totally honest, I just don’t think we had our act together as an industry or company on policy,” Choi said. “We kind of felt like everybody’s just going to figure out that crypto is a force for good.”
Story Continues
“And then we recognized that that was not going to happen naturally and organically, and so we kind of just had to mobilize and make sure this actually happened,” she continued.
POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly spoke with Choi about Coinbase’s political ambitions and policy goals, as well as whether having Trump’s family in the crypto industry raises any concerns. Listen to the full interview.
Subscribe to POLITICO Tech on Apple, Spotify, Audible or your preferred podcast player.