How cryptocurrencies impacted the 2024 election
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Face the Nation moderator and CBS' Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan spoke with Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, on 60 Minutes Sunday about how cryptocurrencies made an impact during the 2024 election.
Rarely in American politics has a new industry spent so much money, with such apparent impact, as the cryptocurrency business did in the last election.
"Cryptocurrencies" like Bitcoin, are digital assets, created and maintained by networks of computers. Mystifying to some and mesmerizing to others, they're used for transactions and as high-risk investments with potentially high rewards.
At least 17 million Americans own crypto, and how the industry should be regulated in the U.S. has been the subject of much dispute.
With an important piece of legislation now before Congress, perhaps it's no surprise that big crypto companies were among the top donors in this past election.
Since the election, the price of Bitcoin has hit record highs. It isn't clear whether the crypto industry will get Congress or the incoming Trump administration to craft the regulation or the legitimacy that they seek, but they've been investing a whole lot of their own cash to get something.
In the final months of a hotly contested race for a Senate seat in Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno received $40 million of positive ads from a political action committee known as a super PAC.
The ads didn't mention cryptocurrency at all, but they were paid for by crypto companies, and they helped Moreno defeat Democrat Sherrod Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and an outspoken critic of crypto.
When asked if he thinks he tipped the scales, Garlinghouse said, "Do I think that putting that amount of money in the Ohio election had an impact? Absolutely."
Garlinghouse is the CEO of a company called Ripple, whose cryptocurrency XRP became the third-largest in the world this past week. Ripple and two other companies contributed $144 million to super PACs that supported pro-crypto Republicans and Democrats.
"Do I think we had an impact to elect a Democratic senator in Michigan...Elissa Slotkin? Yes, absolutely. Do I think we had an impact in Arizona? A Democratic senator in Arizona, [Ruben] Gallego, absolutely," Garlinghouse added.
Overall, crypto companies contributed one-third of all direct corporate contributions to super PACs. Of the 29 Republicans and 33 Democrats the industry backed in congressional races, 85% won.
"It's incredible," Garlinghouse expressed.
During the interview, Brennan and Garlinghouse talked about President-Elect Donald Trump's previous comments about cryptocurrency back in June 2021, with the president-elect saying, "Bitcoin seems like a scam," prompting Brennan to ask Garlinghouse if he know why Trump changed his mind, to which Garlinghouse said, "I think it's clear that Donald Trump embraced crypto and crypto embraced Donald Trump."
Three weeks before the election, Trump announced the launch of a new digital coin that he had a financial stake in. When asked if that's a conflict of interest in his point of view, Garlinghouse said, "Whether or not it's a conflict of interest, the voters have knowingly said, "We want this person to be our president.' The voters have spoken more so than I have."
To watch Brennan's full report, click here.
