According to reports of campaign donations, FTX Trading Ltd. has emerged as the third-largest source of funding for Democratic candidates, behind the megadonor George Soros and the cardboard box producer Uline.
Donations are also given on an individual basis by the CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The CEO of FTX said in his most recent tweet that he is backing political candidates that advocate for permissionless financing and the prevention of pandemics.
SBF went on to explain that as a part of this, he and FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame signed up campaigns to receive crypto; and delivered some of it, including millions to Senate and House Republicans. This was all part of the plan, according to SBF.
SBF suggested that anyone interested in contributing crypto should contact their elected officials and inquire as to whether or not they would accept it; FTX would be happy to sign them up.
As an aside: when I talk about pandemic prevention, I really do mean prevention. We should be working to stop the next pandemic before it happens, not imposing restrictive mandates for this one.
Sam Bankman-Fried
It would seem that the cryptocurrency sector has resumed its political expenditures in preparation for the upcoming midterm elections in the United States in the hopes of shielding itself from regulatory crackdowns with a more friendly Congress.
The chief executive officer of FTX Trading Ltd. is one of the top donors to GMI PAC, one of the many political action committees that are being supported by a growing number of digital asset firms and executives.
What are SBF’s plans for donating to election campaigns?
The wealthy founder and CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange said earlier this year that he intended to spend anywhere between $100 million and $1 billion to assist influence the campaigns for the 2024 United States presidential election.
Bankman-Fried proceeded by stating that the amount of money he provides is really variable and truly depends on precisely who is running where and for what reason. He also said that it is possible that he would split the money among many different groups.
He said that one of the most significant concerns to him is avoiding the next pandemic, which he believes would cost tens of billions of dollars to treat. He also stated that this is one of the most expensive challenges.
Effective altruism is a philanthropic movement, and the SBF is a devoted follower of its philosophy. The crypto millionaire has said that he does his best to figure out the most logical methods to do good in the world, and he has centered his political giving around the preparation for the inevitable assault of future pandemics.
When it comes to policy, I’m not very active on the campaign-contribution side, but I am very active on the engagement side. I think it’s important that we get the word out about pandemic prevention. And I’m not an expert on it.
SBF to The Atlantic
According to SBF, there are a significant number of persons working on Capitol Hill who are concerned about matters pertaining to crypto legislation. Increasing the number of individuals in Washington, DC who are aware of crypto and thinking about it is not the most important thing that has to happen.
But it just so happens that he is quite knowledgeable in that particular field. As a result, he considers crypto policy issues from the point of view of his time rather than his financial resources. As a result, he invests a significant amount of time in day-to-day conversations on crypto policy with folks in Washington, D.C.