Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on Sunday that the establishment of Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-focused super political action committee, was a direct response to the SEC’s approach toward the industry under Gary Gensler.
What Happened: During an interview with CBS News that aired on Dec. 8, the head of the blockchain-based payments company stated, “People are like, why did these companies come together and organize and say, ‘This matters'”? And it’s a reaction to a war on crypto.”
In fact, he added that Fairshake would not exist if not for the SEC’s actions against the industry. “I’m not sure Fairshake would exist,” he replied when asked about the course had there been a different SEC Chair than Gensler.
Garlinghouse revealed that Fairshake was formed by Ripple and two other undisclosed companies, which felt compelled to band together and vocalize their concerns.
For context, Ripple has been locked in a nearly four-year-long legal battle with the SEC over the status of XRP XRP/USD, a cryptocurrency at the center of the company’s operations.
See Also: Crypto Analyst Foresees Pre-Christmas Bitcoin Price Surge
Why It Matters: At a time during the 2024 election cycle, Fairshake was the largest super political action committee and finished the season as one of the biggest with a war chest exceeding $204 million.
Ripple was the biggest donor, pledging $45 million to the pool dedicated to supporting and electing cryptocurrency-friendly candidates to Congress, according to Open Secrets. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase was the biggest backer, committing nearly $45.50 million.
The non-partisan committee ended up spending $40.69 million in the election cycle, with over $27 million in support of candidates, including both the Republicans and Democrats, and $13.56 million opposing candidates, all of whom were Democrats.
In terms of candidates emerging victorious, Fairshake had a 67% success ratio.
Garlinghouse’s disclosure comes amid President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins as the SEC Chair, with many in the cryptocurrency space viewing it as a potentially transformative shift in the agency’s approach to digital assets, particularly after criticism of the enforcement-heavy regulatory stance under outgoing Chair Gensler.
Price Action: Meanwhile, XRP was exchanging hands at $2.46, down 5.39% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The cryptocurrency stormed to become the third-largest by market capitalization earlier this week.
Photo Courtesy: World Economic Forum On Flickr
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