Coinbase is making moves to take advantage of President Donald Trump's pro-crypto push.
The cryptocurrency exchange announced on Wednesday that it had brought on Trump's 2024 campaign manager Chris LaCivita and former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema as advisers on its Global Advisory Council.
Sinema made no attempts to hide her goals as a former lawmaker now working in the speculative space, saying in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that she wants to use her inside knowledge of the legislative process to get favorable laws passed.
“I think one of the most important things for the crypto community is to get a piece of legislation passed in both the House and Senate, in a bipartisan way, and signed by President Trump,” she said.
LaCivita shared that Trump learned "a lot about [crypto] from Barron" and said that he "wants to be on the forefront" of the industry in his second term.
While it’s not unusual for financial firms to seek out the expertise of former lawmakers, Coinbase’s profile and prominence as a political donor is raising questions about an administration’s ability to oversee the burgeoning industry impartially.
Sinema herself didn’t receive any funding from crypto PACs this past election cycle as she had announced her retirement from the upper chamber. Ruben Gallego, who took her Senate seat, received $10 million in backing from crypto PACs, according to data compiled by independent researcher Molly White.
Coinbase is a public company and is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the world. They've only recently become politically active, making their debut in a big way during the 2024 election cycle. Coinbase gave at least $75 million to the blockchain-aligned Fairshake PAC, making it one of the largest contributors from the industry.
“Prior to this cycle, they were not a major political donor, and any contributions they made were mostly directed to individual candidates and were modest in size,” White told Salon.
For industry watchdogs, this marks uncharted territory. The crypto industry seems to have a long stretch of green lights as it looks to maximize its influence and power under a pro-crypto administration that is itself launching crypto ventures.
"It’s partially payback for services rendered, and it's also a demonstration to current officeholders that the money is there for you too if you vote our way," Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, told Salon. "We’ve seen nothing like it before."
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