David Plouffe, a top Democratic strategist best known as an architect of Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign, is the latest addition to the council, joining as the cryptocurrency industry plays an increasingly prominent role in shaping fast-moving legislation in Congress.
The bipartisan involvement reflects how both parties see crypto holders as an important and growing base of potential swing voters they are eager to tap, as well as their efforts to shape and profit from the lucrative industry. It also shows the political heft the crypto industry now carries under Trump, with several Democrats and Republicans joining the company’s payroll in order for the company to influence policy how it wishes.
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The crypto industry spent millions on the 2024 election
The crypto industry was also among the largest spenders in the 2024 election. A crypto super political action committee spent over $130 million in 2024 congressional races. Coinbase, the nations largest crypto exchange, was the super PAC’s biggest contributor.
The cryptocurrency industry’s bets are already paying dividends. Congress is now moving quickly to create a comprehensive framework for the regulation of digital assets amid a shift in Washington. Trump, a Republican, has pledged to make the U.S. the global capital of cryptocurrency, contrasting with what industry leaders viewed as a stifling regulatory approach under the previous Democratic administration.
Americans may be soon able to invest in crypto in their retirement accounts, after Trump’s Secretary of Labor repealed a Biden administration’s guidance that said crypto may not be appropriate for 401ks and IRAs. President Joe Biden’s regulators had argued that extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies makes the asset class too risky for Americans trying to save long-term for retirement.
Regardless of how crypto has performed in the past, the ability for Americans to put their retirement funds, roughly $44 trillion in assets, into crypto will lead to billions of dollars in profits for the industry, if even a small portion of Americans put their assets into a cryptocurrency fund.
Trump’s backing of the crypto industry
Trump and his family have also been aggressively expanding their personal business into almost every part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including raising billions of dollars to buy bitcoin, creating a new stablecoin and launching and promoting a Trump-themed meme coin.
Trump addressed crypto enthusiasts at Coinbase’s policy conference in New York via video on Thursday, saying it’s “a really big honour” to be called the “first crypto president.”
