Winklevoss Twins Give $4.9 Million to Crypto Super PAC

 

(Bloomberg) Fairshake, the crypto super political action committee that’s raked in millions in recent months, raised $4.9 million from billionaire twins Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, according to its latest federal filings.

The super PAC, which has received millions from venture capitalists such as Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and companies such as Coinbase Global Inc. and Ripple Labs, raised another $6.3 million in January, according to its latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. The Winklevoss brothers co-founded crypto exchange Gemini and are major Bitcoin investors.

The super PAC entered February with $73 million cash on hand after spending a little more than $225,000 last month. Two affiliated super PACs, Protect Progress, which backs Democrats, and Defend American Jobs PAC, which supports Republicans, raised no money and made minor expenditures. They ended January with a combined $8 million cash on hand.

The war chest is critical for the industry, which has been under pressure from the US government. High-profile criminal cases involving Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the bankrupted FTX exchange and a major Democratic donor, as well as other crypto firms have led to scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission and calls for greater oversight from members of Congress.

Fairshake is seeking to influence regulation by supporting pro-crypto candidates from both parties in Congress. While the group isn’t opposed to rules that would foster transparency and prevent fraud, it opposes more extreme measures that would curb trade in cryptocurrencies.

It’s spent $3.6 million opposing Democratic California Senate candidate Katie Porter, its biggest outlay to influence an election so far.

It’s also spent six-figure sums supporting Representative Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, who has since announced he won’t seek reelection. The group has also backed Representatives Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican; Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat; and Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, according to OpenSecrets.