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When former congressional<\/span> staffer Jake Rakov launched a primary bid against his old boss, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., the race seemed to fit a pattern.<\/p>\n The Democratic primary season is quickly shaping up to be dominated by intergenerational battles \u2014 and Rakov, at 37, presented himself as a fresh face against Sherman, who has been in Congress since 1997.<\/p>\n Other political forces, however, appear to be at work on Rakov\u2019s campaign. As soon as he announced his challenge, donations from three officials at cryptocurrency trade groups landed in the upstart\u2019s coffers, with a fourth donor coming in on their heels.<\/p>\n \u201cCrypto is smart enough to realize that there are broad concerns among Democrats about aging in office.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a left-leaning group that is critical of the digital assets industry, said crypto appears poised to use the narrative that incumbent Democrats are too old and out of touch.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would definitely send a message were they to be able to dislodge him,\u201d Hauser said of Sherman. \u201cCrypto is smart enough to realize that there are broad concerns among Democrats about aging in office.\u201d<\/p>\n The cash, however, was a drop in the bucket: Unseating a fixture like Sherman would take more muscle. It nonetheless signaled how eager crypto is to topple industry skeptics.<\/p>\n Crypto insiders and skeptics alike say the industry is poised to latch on to the developing youth-versus-age narrative to elect friendlier legislators. Voters in heavily Democratic districts like Sherman\u2019s, however, will not buy it, the longtime member of Congress predicted.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you go to a Democratic district and say, \u2018Brought to you by the makers of Trump coin\u2019 \u2014 they\u2019re not going to buy that product,\u201d Sherman told The Intercept. \u201cMy opponents can\u2019t beat me without $5 or $10 million from crypto. And if $5 or $10 million from crypto comes in, that becomes the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n After spending more than $130 million on last year\u2019s elections<\/a>, the crypto industry is laying plans for another influence campaign in 2026. One trio of affiliated crypto super PACs already have more than $140 million in the bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though these super PACs \u2014 which last year pumped millions into television advertisements with no mention of crypto \u2014 have not yet started spending on next year\u2019s contests, the four officials at crypto trade groups made their donations to Rakov within a couple months of his campaign launch. (Rakov\u2019s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n Within one day of Rakov\u2019s announcement, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith<\/a> donated $3,500, Solana Policy Institute CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine gave $1,000, and Cedar Innovation Foundation engagement director Colin McLaren<\/a> chipped in $3,500, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. (All three are now with the Solana Policy Institute.)<\/p>\n More crypto contributions followed in May and June, when Satoshi Action Fund CEO Dennis Porter gave $500, and Haseeb Qureshi, a managing partner at the crypto fund Dragonfly Digital Management, gave $999.<\/p>\n Those numbers pale in comparison to the $500,000 that Rakov has donated to his own campaign, and will not go far to counteract the $4.1 million in campaign cash <\/a>that Sherman has on hand.<\/p>\n For observers of crypto\u2019s role in elections, however, they are a signal that the industry is watching the race closely.<\/p>\n The crypto industry has ample reason to dislike Sherman. While many other Democrats have sought to chart a middle path, Sherman has in the past called for an outright ban of cryptocurrencies. A member of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, Sherman said his concerns about crypto include lax \u201cknow your customer\u201d policies that have allowed money laundering to flourish<\/a>, and the environmental impact of energy-intensive bitcoin mining.<\/a><\/p>\n On the House floor last year, Sherman said<\/a> the demand for crypto was driven by \u201cbig-time drug dealers and big-time tax evaders and big-time human traffickers.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren, the crypto industry lobbyist who donated to Rakov, said in an email that he was motivated by Sherman\u2019s position on crypto, pointing to an industry report card.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an F for a reason, calling crypto a \u2018garden full of snakes,\u2019 voting against concrete opportunities to protect consumers and unlock innovation, and spreading falsehoods about a legitimate industry,\u201d McLaren said.<\/p>\n He also signaled support for other younger Democrats taking on older, incumbent critics of crypto.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a proud Democrat who has worked on campaigns for President Biden, Michael Bloomberg, and Vice President Harris, I applaud challengers like Jake Rakov, Jake Levine, and Patrick Roath who have stood up against senior Members of Congress who are out of touch with 21st century technologies, and voters and am proud to support them, either financially or in other ways,\u201d McLaren said.<\/p>\n Levine is another of Sherman\u2019s early challengers and Roath, 38, is taking on 70-year-old crypto skeptic Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., next year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
Crypto Chips In<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u201cBig-Time Drug Dealers\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n