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Ripple's Garlinghouse Says 2024 Election Was a Chance to 'Educate Voters'
The Ripple CEO says crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) were a response to the war on crypto.
Dec 9, 2024, 7:47 a.m.
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What to know:
- In an interview with 60 Minutes, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the 2024 election was a "major victory" for crypto.
- This victory was a bi-partisan affair with crypto PAC Fairshake backing both Republicans and Democrats.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in an interview with 60 Minutes, said that the 2024 election was a "major victory" for crypto as the majority of Fairshake, a crypto political action committee (PAC), backed candidates, won their seats.
And this was a non-partisan effort, as crypto, itself is non-partisan, he argued, pointing to the cross-aisle support for the digital assets bill FIT21.
“Of the 29 Republicans and 33 Democrats the industry backed in congressional races, 85% won. It’s incredible,” he said.
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“We absolutely helped supercharge the candidates with the money in the coffers… That’s absolutely right,” he said, arguing that, like other industries, they took the electoral cycle as a chance to educate voters.
“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, Gallego? Absolutely,” he continued.
While Ripple-supported Fairshake was a non-partisan effort, one of the defining moments during the election was then-Republican candidate Donald Trump's embrace of crypto, which was a transformation from his prior stance where he said he was "not a fan".
“I think it’s clear that Donald Trump embraced crypto and crypto embraced Donald Trump,” Garlinghouse said.
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