A16z, Coinbase, Ripple Labs Lead Crypto PAC Donor List

A political action committee focused on electing crypto-friendly candidates and achieving clear U.S. regulatory guidelines has amassed over $85 million for its war chest, according to its end of year report.

Fairshake PAC’s 2024 goal? Getting crypto-friendly candidates elected to Congress.

The amounts raised — and who is donating — show that the crypto industry is coming to play in the 2024 cycle, likely in an attempt to shift the narrative away from the industry’s disastrous 2022, which saw the collapse of homegrown FTX.

Donations have poured in from the biggest, deepest pockets in the crypto ecosystem, led by partners at the venture capital firm a16z, Coinbase and its founder Brian Armstrong and Ripple Labs.

A Who’s Who in Crypto

At the top of the individual spending list were Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, founding partners at a16z, whose crypto fund is targeting $3.4 billion for its next raise. The two men donated $19 million over just a couple of months.

Coinbase, and its CEO and founder Brian Armstrong, combined contributions to the tune of $21.5 million, including a $15.5 million donation in the stablecoin USDC from the company itself. Coinbase has become the dominant exchange in the US after the collapse of FTX and indictment of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Ripple Labs, the payment protocol developer that claimed a partial victory in a closely watched case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, also donated $20 million.

Other notable funders include trading firm Jump Crypto, whose brand was tarnished by its involvement with Terraform Labs, which contributed $5 million. ARK Invest, founded by Cathie Wood, and the Winklevoss twins, contributed total amounts well below $1 million.

Fairshake PAC described its goal as “support[ing]candidates committed to securing the United States as the home to innovators building the next generation of the internet” by developing “clearer regulatory and legal framework,” according to its website.