Marco Santori, former chief legal officer at crypto exchange Kraken, praised the political campaign donations made by industry firms during the 2024 election as “democracy at work.”
In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, the former Kraken executive argued that crypto voters tilted the election in favor of then-candidate Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The executive also said that the donations from crypto firms, many of which are now having regulatory lawsuits dismissed, do not represent conflicts of interest. Santori told Cointelegraph:
“Detractors only call it a conflict of interest when it is a cause they do not believe in, otherwise, it’s just democracy at work. It is people advocating for their own benefits — people like you and me. That is what is happening, and that is what happened in the last election.”
“Look at what happened in November. Who can deny that crypto was responsible for 4%-5% of the vote,” Santori added. “It was a huge swing in an American election in every state across demographics.”
2024 US electoral map. Source: 270 To Win
In September 2024, Dr. Tonya M. Evans, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University, told Cointelegraph that the 2024 US elections would be decided by razor-thin margins and that crypto voters had the voting power to swing the elections.
Related: Rep. Mike Collins now accepting crypto donations for campaign
Crypto industry spends big on 2024 US elections
The crypto industry was responsible for nearly half of all corporate political campaign contributions during the 2024 US election cycle.
According to data from Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group, digital asset firms donated over $119 million to support pro-crypto candidates and policies in the 2024 US elections.
The crypto industry’s share of corporate campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle. Source: Public Citizen
This included money spent on the presidential and congressional elections, such as the re-election campaign of Rep. Bryan Steil, on which crypto political action committee Fairshake spent $760,000 in a last-minute media ad supporting the lawmaker.
According to former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, the crypto industry built a professional lobbying operation during the most recent election cycle — something that was absent during 2016 and 2020.
The lobbying of the crypto industry is credited as the catalyst that allowed the GOP to secure both chambers of Congress, the popular vote, and the presidency in 2024.
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