Crypto is making a splash in U.S. elections — but chiefly in jabs about industry influence

Many Democrats, including Warner, are insisting that the crypto industry belongs in the conversation about Trump administration corruption.

"We are getting peppered on a weekly basis on the latest way the president is trying to profit off of this," said Will Ragland, vice president of research in the advocacy department at the Center for American Progress.

Since 2024, Ragland said the industry decided to lash itself to Trump and his political allies, and a major piece of evidence is the president's primary super PAC, MAGA Inc. Crypto interests represent the leading industry contributors to the PAC, according to an analysis from his organization, noting almost $89 million in contributions from the sector, significantly outpacing other industries.

The industry’s close relationship with Trump, who controls a personal crypto empire himself, has brought some benefits to the sector, such as the crypto-friendly regulators who have dismissed enforcement actions and are writing new rules, but it may have come at a cost greater than the price tag on campaign contributions.

Crypto companies "made a very poor strategic decision early on here," Ragland said. Though they've supported candidates from both parties, the greater lean was toward Trump and congressional Republicans. "To some extent, it worked, in terms of seeing investigations dropped and having a direct line into the presidency," he said, but now the accusations against Trump (which often highlight his crypto earnings that Ragland's organization live-tracks, currently around $2.4 billion) have reached a "fever pitch."