The cryptocurrency industry could give Republicans control of the Senate

Some cryptocurrency companies are donating tens of millions of dollars, through a super PAC, to support businessman and conservative Senate candidate Bernie Moreno is his race against Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio). Brown is seen as an enemy of digital currencies, which could give Republicans control of the U.S. senate. 

Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, has been a strong critic of the cryptocurrency industry.

Super PAC Defend American Jobs, affiliated with another one called Fairshake, the industry's largest, has poured more than $40,000,000 into Moreno's campaign.

Journalist Matt Sledge stated in an article published in The Intercept that if Moreno manages to defeat Brown thanks to the support of the cryptocurrency industry, it is likely that he will then be able to score more successes on his way to weakening the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and allow more traditional banks to embrace digital currencies.

News portal Spectrum News 1 reported that Brown, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has the power to block a bill to relax regulation of cryptocurrencies, known as FIT 21, under which many types of digital currencies would be classified as commodities rather than securities.

The rules for commodities, which include oil, wheat or electricity, are generally more lax than those for financial securities such as stocks or bonds. The bill passed the House of Representatives and is currently under review by the Senate Banking Committee.

Spectrum News 1 also reported that Moreno is more supportive of the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, he previously founded a digital car titling company that operates on blockchain technology, the same used for digital currencies.

Cryptocurrency industry donations key to campaigns in run-up to election

A report released last August shows that nearly half of all corporate donations to political campaigns ahead of the November elections come from the cryptocurrency sector. 

The report by Public Citizen notes that cryptocurrency companies Coinbase and Ripple contributed 80% of the roughly $119,000,000 donated by the sector through August. Currently, most of these funds are being directed to super PACs backing the most cryptocurrency-friendly candidates.

Notably, the contribution of cryptocurrency companies exceeds even that of banks and oil companies.

According to the Public Citizen report, since 2010, when the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling allowed corporations to make unlimited contributions to campaigns, the crypto sector has accounted for 15% of all disclosed donations. It added that more than 90% of the money raised from this industry has been raised in this election cycle.

Since the 2010 ruling, the report adds, the cryptocurrency industry is second only to fossil fuel conglomerates in terms of political campaign donations.