The cryptocurrency windfall for Democrats

Here are some of the biggest FTX losers — along with its biggest Democrat beneficiaries

NEWS

JOSEPH MACKINNON

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

....

Democratic beneficiaries

Many may now associate FTX with loss and misfortune. The same may not be true for a legion of Democrats.

Prior to the collapse of FTX and his professional demise, Bankman-Fried made a name for himself as a Democrat megadonor. 

TheBlaze previously reported that Bankman-Fried donated $10 million to then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020 and spent at least $39,826,856 this year in an effort to help Democrats win their House races.

Fox Business reported that in 2021 and 2022, Bankman-Fried donated roughly $38 million to Democratic candidates and leftist PACs.

FTX funneled $27 million through the leftist PAC Protect Our Future, accounting for nearly 95% of the funds raised by the PAC.

Citing Federal Election Commission filings, Fox Business noted that Bankman-Fried wired $9 million to the PAC in February and then made three subsequent donations collectively worth $18 million between March and June.

Another $1 million was donated to the PAC by top FTX executive Nishad Singh.

The group supported the following Democrats: 

• Carrick Flynn (given $10.5 million), who ran to represent Oregon's 6th Congressional District and lost his primary to Andrea Salinas in May;
• Michigan state Senator Adam Hollier and Joshua Lafazan of New York (given $1.1 million), both of whom ran for Congress and failed in their respective primaries; and
• general election winners Reps. Lucy McBath of Georgia and Shontel Brown of Ohio, and Reps.-elect Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Valerie Foushee of North Carolina, and Robert Garcia of California (given over $1 million).

Fox Business indicated that the PAC also shelled out between $200,000 and $972,00 to several other leftist politicos, including Rep. Jesus Garcia (Ill.) and Reps.-elect Morgan McGarvey (Ky.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), and Sydney Kamlager (Calif.). 

In May, Bankman-Fried told Jacob Goldstein of "What's Your Problem?" that he was considering donating "north of $100 million" and up to $1 billion to Democrats in the 2024 presidential elections.

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to state that Bankman-Fried donated roughly $38 million to Democrat candidates and leftist PACs in 2021 and 2022, not 2001 and 2022.