A prominent donor to the Democratic Party is breaking away from cryptocurrency super PACs after they announced they would spend $12 million to unseat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, Politico reported.
Ron Conway, a tech billionaire, had donated $500,000 to Fairshake, a cryptocurrency super PAC in December. But he says campaigning against Brown undermines effort to pass crypto-friendly bills in Congress by alienating Democrat lawmakers, Politico said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants to pass legislation focusing on crypto, after legislation friendly to the crypto industry recently passed the House with bipartisan support, according to Politico.
"$12M to [Sherrod] Brown's opponent at a time when Sen Schumer is doing his best to get a bill passed in the Senate in the lame duck," Conway wrote in an email Monday to dozens of other associated donors, obtained by Politico. "You all know that is 'slap in the face' to Sen Schumer And a 'slap in the face' to me when you know I'm meeting him in SF tomorrow. How short sighted and stupid can you possibly be?"
Conway was also upset no one gave him a heads up about the donation.
"I'm the one using my 25+ year old personal relationships to help this movement the most significantly and not one person bothered to inform me," Conway wrote. "Because of your selfish hidden agendas, it is time for us to separate. This is a wakeup call to myself that I have been working too long with people who [do] not share common values and that is unacceptable. ... I will I [sic] no longer compromise myself by associating or helping."
Democrats and Republicans have both been fighting for the support of the crypto industry and its millions in potential campaign contributions, Politico reported.
Conway and Fairshake did not respond to a request for comments from Politico.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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