Here are the crypto industry’s top donors to US political campaigns

It is no secret that Washington, D.C. has seen a major influx of money from the crypto industry in recent months.

Campaign donations are no exception, an analysis conducted by The Block shows.

The Block previously reported on Cynthia Lummis’ campaign’s extraordinary appeal to the crypto industry. Through a review of the Federal Election Commission’s data for campaign donations, The Block has identified a wide range of crypto industry participants, including its largest individual contributors available up to this point.

The three largest individual donors were leaders at crypto exchange Bittrex, stablecoin operator Paxos, and the Blockchain Association, the DC-based trade organization. Collectively, these donations demonstrated distinct areas of legislative interest, but all indicate clear priority for crypto-friendly politicians — all donated to Lummis’ 2026 campaign early in 2021, for example.

All three also gave to Representative Ro Khanna’s campaign within a matter of weeks at the end of August or beginning of September, shortly after the infrastructure bill passed the Senate. Indeed, the timeframe corresponded to a general surge in industry donations to Democratic candidates and political action committees.

For reference, an individual can donate up to $2,900 to a single candidate for a single election, with primary and general elections counting for different pools. An individual can also give up to $5,000 to a single political action committee, or PAC, and an unlimited amount to a Super PAC, which can support candidates as long as it does not coordinate its activities with them.

Bill Shihara

The founder of Bittrex, Shihara has been a major donor going back to 2017.

Thus far in 2021, he has put $77,200 into various campaigns — which pales in comparison to the $213,000 he gave to the Democratic National Committee in September 2020, a major election year. With midterms coming up next November, campaigning and donations will likely accelerate.

In addition to donations to Lummis and Khanna, the broader schema of Shihara’s donations is relatively diverse, but seems particularly keen on maverick Democrats. He gave max donations to Kyrsten Sinema and Tammy Duckworth’s Senate campaigns, another $10,600 to a Duckworth super PAC and another $4,800 to a Duckworth-led leadership PAC called Perimeter PAC.

Shihara also maxed donations to Andy Kim, a moderate Democratic representative from New Jersey, and Bill Hagerty, a Republican on the Senate Banking Committee who has worked with Lummis on that committee on crypto issues.

Shihara did not respond to a request for comment.

The Cascarillas

Paxos CEO Chad Cascarilla and his wife Marissa have made tandem donations adding up to $72,200. While they have given to campaigns in the past, their total historical donations prior to this year were only $45,600.

The two have both given max donations to four Congressional candidates: Kyrsten Sinema, Ro Khanna, Ron Wyden and New York State Assemblymember Marc Molinaro’s national campaign for 2022.

The donations to Wyden and Khanna’s campaigns went out in September, following the infrastructure bill fight.

The Cascarillas have only maxed out donations to Lummis’ primary campaign, not the general election. However, they did also give a collective $10,000 to the Steer PAC, a leadership PAC under Lummis’ direction on the same day that they donated to her primary campaign.

The pair also gave $10,000 to the Congressional Black Caucus PAC at the end of October. Composed entirely of Democratic congresspeople, many of its leaders — including Chairwoman Joyce Beatty — also sit on the House Financial Services Committee. Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters is also a member of the caucus.

Chad Cascarilla testified before that committee in a hearing in December. Many observers, including The Block, noted a significantly warmer tone compared to previous hearings on crypto before that committee, including one in June entitled “America on FIRE.”

Chad Cascarilla declined to comment on this story.

Kristin Smith

Smith, as the head of crypto’s leading lobbying group, the Blockchain Association, is the most personally active of the listed donors within D.C. political circles. She has given max donations to Lummis, Wyden, and Ro Khanna, as well as to longtime crypto advocate Warren Davidson.

Smith is also the largest single donor to HODLpac to date.

“I’m proud to support elected officials who believe in the true potential of the crypto economy in the U.S,” Smith told The Block. “We’re not shy, as an industry, to say and support what we value, and I don’t expect political giving to be any different.”

Smith has also extended her donations to Democratic members of Congress who are not tightly associated with crypto. Since September, that has included donations to Khanna and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the 6th, followed by Ron Wyden and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

Smith, like the Cascarillas, gave a max donation of $5,000 to the Congressional Black Caucus PAC in October.