Democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand has played an important role in the Act respecting engineering, a bipartite bill which, if adopted, will regulate the use of stablecoins in the United States. But, as the main co-sponsor of the bill, Gillibrand’s involvement in his adoption is accompanied by his part of controversy.
In an investigation into the financing of campaigns during the federal electoral cycle of 2024, Beincrypto found that the combined donations of individuals associated with eminent crypto companies – notably Coinbase, Ripple, Uniswap Labs, Andreessen Horowitz and Dydx Trading – existed $ 200,000 for the campaign of the senior New York.
The law on engineering: a step closer to federal stablecoin regulations
On Monday evening, the Senate advanced the Geniuses Act concerning stablescoins by approving a procedural vote. This vote was closed, which limits the debate and prevents an obstacle.
Cloture requires the support of 60% of the senators present. The bill still needs a full vote from the Senate to adopt. To reach the required threshold, 16 Democrats voted in favor of this decision, Senator Gillibrand leading the initiative.
The road to get there was difficult. During a previous senatorial meeting on May 8, the same vote failed to qualify for the final of the discussions. Nine Democratic senators – including Gillibrand – withdrew their initial support from the bill during this series of debates.
Opposition to the bill arises from several concerns. These included inadequate protections of consumers, potential risks for national security and an apprehension concerning the way in which legislation could be affected by or even exacerbate the problems related to the involvement of President Donald Trump in different cryptographic companies.
During this last round, some of these senators, such as the Senator of Delaware Blunt Rochester, decided from Greenlight The Bill, while others, like the senator of the New Jersey Andy Kim, are not convinced.
What is certain is that the United States is closer to national legislation on cryptography on stablecoins. The efforts of Senator Gillibrand have considerably influenced the road to arrive here. His negotiation skills helped ensure sufficient democratic support for the bill at each stage.
However, its links with the cryptographic industry raise questions about its motivations to recommend its passage.
What cryptographic companies have contributed to the Gillibrand campaign?
Gillibrand has been a senator for her original state from New York since 2009. Last year, she was re -elected for a fourth term.
According to Opensecrets, a non -profit organization which follows and publishes campaign and lobbying financing data, Gillibrand received tens of thousands of dollars of people representing different cryptographic entities during the last electoral cycle.
Under the American federal law, companies cannot generally make a donation to the Congress campaigns. This prohibition applies to contributions from the Treasury funds of a company.
Nevertheless, Opensecrets monitors the contributions of people, who are generally required to disclose their employer during the donation.
Given this information, in 2024, the contributors associated with Coinbase were the tenth corporate donors to the key, the leadership of Senator Gillibrand PAC. Together, they made a donation of $ 59,900 to his re -election campaign.
After his advance, the venture capital company Andress Horowitz made a donation of $ 57,000 to Gillibrand’s efforts. In 16th place was Uniswap Labs, where individuals contributed $ 48,900.
The ripple donors arrived in 40th place, contributing a total of $ 32,000. Further on, the list was Dydx Trading, giving $ 19,200.
Gillibrand received $ 217,000 in total of these various cryptographic entities. By searching the database of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC), Beincrypto revealed the identity of some of these independent contributors.
The main individual donors to the management of Gillibrand Pac
According to data compiled by the FEC, Gillibrand PAC leadership received $ 366,043.12 of individual contributions between 2023 and 2024.
By combining these contributions, Beincrypto has found 10 individual donations of important figures that have listed Coinbase, Ripple and Uniswap laboratories as employers.
Under the law on federal electoral campaign, individuals are generally limited to the donation of $ 5,000 per calendar year to a traditional political action committee (CAP). This limit applies by electoral cycle, which means that separate gifts can be made for primary and general elections.
Among the names associated with Coinbase were CEO Brian Armstrong and the Chief of the Operation Emilie Choi, who donated a total of $ 8,300 to the management of Gillibrand PAC in the primary elections last year.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Ripple Labs, Bradley Garlinghouse, the legal director Stuart Alderoty and the co-founder Chris Larsen, each gave $ 5,000.
In the case of Uniswap, CEO Hayden Adams and legal director Katherine Minarik each donated $ 3,300. Marvin Ammori, also legal director, donated a sum of $ 7,300 on three times.
Beincryptto found no individual contribution from Dydx or Andresen Horowitz employees to the management of Gillibrand PAC.
Does the financing of cryptography influence the impartiality of the congress?
The financing of the campaign from important names in the cryptographic industry, whether of political action committees or individual contributors, have become a household activity in the elections of last year.
According to a Citizen public report, giants like Coinbase and Ripple Labs each contributed $ 50 million to Fairshake, the Crypto Super Pac which spent $ 119 million in the 2024 federal elections.
In fact, Opensecrets labeled Fairshake as one of the few Super Pacs who qualify as bipartite committees. Cryptographic contributions to republican candidates and democrats demonstrate the wide range of industry investments to make a brighter regulatory future for the crypto in Washington.
But they also raise questions about the impartiality of Congress representatives such as Senator Gillibrand when it comes to voting on legislation that will have a direct impact on the companies of the actors who have contributed to their political campaigns.
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