Fairshake, a super political action committee (PAC) in the United States that supports cryptocurrencies, has received a generous $25 million donation from Ripple. This contribution brings Fairshake’s total funds for the 2024 election cycle to between $102 million and $110 million, making it the richest nonpartisan super PAC and the third richest overall.
Ripple had previously donated $25 million to Fairshake in 2023. CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed his support, stating that Fairshake backs candidates who are dedicated to establishing the United States as a hub for innovative internet development.
The list of contributors to Fairshake reads like a Who’s Who of the crypto world. Open Secret, the source of this information, has not yet updated its data to reflect Ripple’s recent donation. However, notable contributors who have donated less than $1 million include former Bitfinex executive Phil Potter (who made two donations totaling just under $2 million), Fred Ersham and Matt Huang of Paradigm, Wences Casares of Xapo Bank, executives of Electric Capital, a16z-backed Lightspark Group, and billionaire Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest.
Fairshake has reportedly supported several politicians, including Patrick McHenry, Dusty Johnson, Wiley Nickel, and others. On the other hand, it worked against California progressive Katie Porter.
Although Fairshake claims to be nonpartisan, Open Secret’s current data, which does not include the new Ripple donation, reveals a clear bias. The super PAC has overwhelmingly used its funds to oppose Democratic candidates while not opposing any Republicans. It spent $629,646 to support Democrats and $551,675 to support Republicans. As a super PAC, Fairshake is prohibited from directly contributing to candidates or coordinating activities with them.
In addition to Ripple, Coinbase has also established a PAC called Stand with Crypto, which independently donates to Fairshake. Stand with Crypto operates on a more grassroots level, with its war chest of at least $87.2 million gathered from approximately 860,000 members. The largest donation to Stand with Crypto was $1 million from MoonPay, followed by a $20,000 contribution.
In the world of cryptocurrency, the SEC faces a formidable challenge when dealing with legal issues, much like the epic clash between Godzilla and Kong.