Coinbase CEO leads voting push, says crypto owners far outnumber EV drivers

In something resembling an old-school political rally, the roving campaign known as Stand With Crypto brought boosters together at the Bourbon Room, a club whose vibe felt infinitely cooler than the crypto geeks (with the exception of Nas of course) who had gathered there. Outside, organizers had arranged for lines to splay around the block and a truck to display a fake movie ad depicting the anti-crypto Senate candidate Katie Porter as a power-tripping villain. As a spectacle, it was well-orchestrated and a sign the crypto lobby, powered by a war chest of more than $85 million, intends to flex hard in this year’s election.

Inside the club, Armstrong complained that politicians still refuse to take the industry seriously despite crypto owners, by Coinbase’s estimates, outnumbering EV owners by a factor of five and union cardholders by a factor of 3.5. He and others onstage elicited cheers by asking rally-style questions (“How many of you own crypto? Who thinks we should have more control of our money?”) and hollering about the importance of making your vote count. The whole thing felt a bit forced but did have the look and feel of a political rally.

This raises the question of what, exactly, the organizers are hoping to achieve with all this. My colleague Leo, who attended the East Coast version of the same event in Boston last month, has suggested the whole idea of a “crypto voter” is an imaginary species. For the most part, I share his skepticism. I know a lot of crypto owners and suspect most of them will cast their ballot based on taxes or immigration or Israel-Gaza or something like that. In this context, it’s hard to see a candidate’s position on the legal status of Ethereum or XRP being a dealbreaker.

I put this to Coinbase’s Head of Policy, Faryar Shirzad, who said the company’s polling has shown there is a crypto constituency and pointed out that around 2,000 people had RSVP’d to the Hollywood event while more than 300,000 folks have signed on to the Stand With Crypto campaign. He added that crypto is at an “inflection point” and that, while voters might not be swayed when it comes to the presidential vote, some are willing to split their ticket in order to choose a pro-crypto candidate for Congress.

That doesn’t sound crazy to me. It’s also worth noting the crypto community is young and extremely online—the sort of folks who might be checked out when it comes to traditional politics, but who could be persuaded to cast a vote if they think Bitcoin is under threat. And in the case of primary elections like the ones taking place on Tuesday, turnout is low so a small faction of crypto voters could theoretically make a difference.

The broader point is that, for now, we simply don’t know if Stand With Crypto will move the needle, or if it will prove little more than a sweet gig for lobbyists. The only thing I can say for sure is that the crypto industry, for better or worse, has at last learned how to play in the political big leagues.

Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts

DECENTRALIZED NEWS

Microstrategy's CEO said the firm will issue $600 million of convertible notes in order to further augment its hoard of 193,000 Bitcoins. (Bloomberg)

The price of Coinbase shares have roughly doubled over the last 30 days, hitting $236 on Monday despite a series of technical glitches on the site. (Fortune)

The return of the bull market has seen Tether's USDT stablecoin touch $100 billion for the first time. (CoinDesk)

BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF grew to $10 billion in assets on Monday, the fastest an ETF has ever reached that milestone, while Fidelity's swelled to $6 billion. (WSJ)

The IRS, which has been ramping up its crypto enforcement capabilities, is reportedly going to unleash a "tidal wave" of investigations. (CNBC) 

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