Crypto companies have spent millions on the 2024 election

The Street

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why cryptocurrency companies are spending big on politics.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:02Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:05All ears are tuned to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell

00:08as he lays out his plan for lowering interest rates

00:11as inflation moderates and the labor market cools.

00:14Investors are betting with certainty

00:16that there will be a cut of at least a quarter percentage

00:19point at the meeting in September.

00:22Wall Street is also digesting the biggest jump in new home

00:25sales in 14 months.

00:28The median sales price rose to $429,800.

00:33In other news, crypto is betting big in the 2024 election

00:36cycle.

00:37The industry has donated about $119 million

00:40so far, that's nearly half of all corporate donations

00:44this election cycle, according to estimates

00:46by Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog.

00:49The bulk of the political contributions

00:51have gone to a bipartisan super PAC known as Fairshake.

00:55According to its website, quote,

00:57Fairshake supports candidates committed

00:59to securing the United States as the home

01:01to innovators building the next generation of the internet.

01:05Coinbase and Ripple are responsible for 80%

01:08of the crypto industry's donations.

01:10Coinbase has contributed more than $50 million,

01:13and Ripple has contributed $48 million.

01:16Both companies have been locked in legal battles

01:18with the Securities and Exchange Commission

01:20under the Biden administration.

01:22Republicans have tried to paint their party as pro-crypto.

01:26In August, Donald Trump announced a new crypto project

01:29for his family business called The Defiant Ones.

01:32But crypto is playing both sides of the aisle.

01:35Political donations are going to Republicans and Democrats

01:39in hopes of tilting the balance away

01:41from legislation and regulations the industry considers

01:45too tight.

01:46That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York

01:49Stock Exchange.

01:50I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.

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