Coinbase, a United States-based cryptocurrency exchange, has recently launched a campaign to invite crypto holders to ‘Stand with Crypto Alliance’ and “speak directly to lawmakers”. As of Aug. 15, more than 54,000 individuals had already signed up to the initiative, which allows users to view the “crypto sentiment” of members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Among the members featured on the landing page were Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Brad Sherman as “strongly against” crypto policies, and Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Ritchie Torres and David Schweikert as “very supportive”. Sen. Warren has been critical of crypto in the past, suggesting it has links to illicit activities such as facilitating the fentanyl trade in China. Rep. Torres, on the other hand, called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to limit its enforcement cases concerning crypto firms.
Rep. David Schweikert has a history of supporting pro-crypto bills and statements during his time in office. Coinbase included the disclaimer that “Members of Congress may have views you strongly agree or disagree with”, but did not explicitly mention any non-crypto policy stances. It is worth noting that Rep. Schweikert has previously acknowledged 11 ethics violations, which led to a $50,000 fine from the House Ethics Committee and a $125,000 fine from the Federal Election Commission.
Coinbase’s ‘Stand with Crypto Alliance’ has received donations from crypto users including more than $215 from a user with the X handle ‘Jerry Mander’, and a $191.98 donation from an unverified account that may belong to Roger Bartlett, Coinbase’s head of institutional operations solutions and Coinbase Treasury. This political initiative is Coinbase’s latest effort in advocating for crypto users to “elect pro-crypto candidates” in the United States. The exchange is currently facing a lawsuit from the SEC over allegedly unregistered securities offerings.
