Crypto’s $130 million election binge has boosted Utah’s John Curtis

SALT LAKE CITY — John Curtis, a Republican congressman from Utah, has grow to be a favourite of the crypto industry in his bid to win the Senate seat held by the departing Mitt Romney. He took a somewhat oblong route through the telecommunications sector to get there.

At an event in Salt Lake City last week, Curtis told a number of dozen crypto enthusiasts that he had a conversation a number of years ago with some fellow House members about web service providers and methods to incentivize them to spice up their offerings. The varied lawmakers were throwing around different connection speeds — 50 megabits, 100 megabits — but when Curtis asked whether or not they’d ever run a speed test, he got puzzling responses.

“They checked out me like I used to be from one other planet,” Curtis told the group on the Permissionless conference.

Curtis, 64, said he realized then that lawmakers needed to be smarter about regulations and really understand the user experience. That is particularly true in crypto, he said.

“That is so vital to get government involved, because in the event that they don’t understand what you are doing, they’ll make really bad decisions,” the Provo-based congressman said, because the attendees nodded their head in unison. “The worst a part of regulation is its unpredictability.”

Curtis’ attitude toward crypto is a giant reason why digital coin enthusiasts have filled his coffers in his campaign against Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich, setting him up for what appears to be a landslide victory next month.

The Defend American Jobs PAC, a single-issue committee focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain policy, has contributed greater than $1.9 million to Curtis’ campaign, in accordance with Federal Election Commission data compiled by crypto market and blockchain analyst James Delmore and verified by CNBC. Moreover, the PAC spent greater than $1.5 million to oppose Curtis’ Republican primary challenger, Trent Staggs.

Ben Lucas, Curtis’ campaign spokesman, declined an interview on behalf of the congressman. He sent an announcement from Corey Newman, the chief of staff, saying that, “John has at all times been a powerful supporter of the crypto industry as it would help Utah’s economy proceed to grow and be a fantastic place to create jobs.” 

The sprawling and decentralized digital asset industry is backing Curtis and others who’re publicly adopting a pro-crypto policy inside their campaigns. The crypto industry accounts for nearly half of all donations made by corporations this election cycle because the sector outpaces each the large banks and oil. Of the 42 primary candidates that crypto-backed super PACs supported, they were successful in 36.

In total, crypto groups have spent over $130 million in congressional races for this yr’s election, including the primaries, in accordance with FEC data.

Enterprise firm Andreessen Horowitz present in its recent State of Crypto report that greater than 40 million Americans hold crypto, a gaggle that is young and bipartisan. The report said 51% of them indicated they’re prone to throw their weight behind crypto-friendly candidates.

Curtis says the perfect thing the industry can do is police itself, after which come to lawmakers with the correct form of guardrails, striking a balance of safety and security without excessive regulation.

Three crypto PACs, that are primarily backed by Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz, have been targeting competitive Senate and House races across the U.S.