Crypto execs gave more than $150,000 to Sen. Gillibrand in Q2

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) raked in thousands from crypto executives including FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Gemini’s Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, according to her latest fundraising report.

Gillibrand has emerged as a key figure in Washington as lawmakers eye regulating the volatile digital asset industry. The New York Democrat co-authored a sweeping crypto regulation bill with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), which the pair released in June. The wide-ranging proposal offers a framework to split which parts of the digital asset industry are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, versus the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, among other policies. 

Venture capitalists, developers and industry groups flocked to Gillibrand’s campaign in the most recent quarter. According to her second-quarter report, Gillibrand’s donors included Bankman-Fried and FTX US president Brett Harrison, who gave $5,800 and $2,900 respectively. Four members of Multicoin Capital — co-founder and managing partner Kyle Samani, managing partner Tushar Jain, partner John Robert Reed and general counsel Gregory Xethalis — gave Gillibrand a combined $19,400. 

According to the report, crypto industry players donated more than $150,000 during the reporting period.

Gillibrand, a former presidential candidate who is up for reelection in 2024, reported raising $872,000 and had $3.9 million on hand at the end of June. Lummis also collected thousands from the crypto industry in the second quarter of the year, The Block reported earlier this week. Campaign finance reports are due to the FEC today, and cover April 1-June 30. 

Gillibrand received cash from crypto-minded members of traditional financial firms. Amy Oldenburg, the head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, gave $1500. Bain Capital Crypto partner and head of regulatory & policy TuongVy Le donated $1000.

At least eight crypto CEOs cut checks for the New York lawmaker last quarter. They included Hivemapper CEO and co-founder Ariel Seidman, Aptos CEO and co-founder Mo Shaikh, Paxos CEO and co-founder Charles Cascarilla, Messari CEO and founder Ryan Selkis and Matcha Design Labs CEO and founder Avani Miriyala.

Industry groups also put some cash in Gillibrand’s campaign coffers. Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher donated $750, Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Sheila Warren gave $5,800 and Dan Spuller, the head of industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, donated $250. 

Additional notable Gillibrand donors hailed from Union Square Ventures, Uniswap Labs, Delta Blockchain Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Meta, dYdX Trading and HODL PAC.

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