Author: Azuma, Odaily Planet Daily
The US election will officially begin later tonight, but in addition to the much-anticipated presidential election, the race for a key seat is also attracting a lot of attention from the cryptocurrency industry, with overseas lobbying organizations having already spent tens of millions of dollars in the hope that a "challenger" can bring down the "crypto enemy" in a high position.
This important race is for the Senate seat in Ohio, with the candidates being the incumbent Senator, Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, and the Republican candidate Bernie Moreno.
The reason why this Senate race is of great concern to the industry is that Brown currently holds the position of Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which is one of the most influential committees in the Senate and has jurisdiction over the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ... Without much introduction, those familiar with the industry know that these two agencies have a significant impact on the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
As Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Brown has significant influence in deciding which bills need to be submitted to the committee for review or to the Senate for a vote, but Brown himself is an extreme opponent of cryptocurrencies, causing a large number of cryptocurrency-related bills to be shelved in the committee, which the industry generally believes has seriously hindered the positive development of the industry.
Sherrod Brown
In contrast, the "challenger" Moreno has already made cryptocurrencies the core of his campaign propaganda, even vowing to fight those who try to "destroy cryptocurrencies".
Bernie Moreno
CoinDesk reported in September that the cryptocurrency industry's political action committee (PAC) has invested a large amount of money in the Ohio Senate race to support Moreno against Brown. As of September 27, 2024, the PAC funded by companies like Coinbase and Ripple Labs has invested $40 million to support Moreno, which has quickly caught up Brown in the polls, with some polls even showing Moreno in the lead.
RealClearPolitics poll data shows that Moreno (48%) is currently slightly ahead of Brown (46.3%) by about 1.7 percentage points, and the race remains quite tense.
Ron Hammond, Director of Government Relations at the Blockchain Association, told The Block in an interview that the Ohio Senate race may be the most important House seat race for the cryptocurrency industry.
Given Ohio's swing state status, if Moreno successfully defeats Brown, it will greatly increase the probability of the Republicans holding a majority in the Senate. In that case, Republican Senator Tim Scott from North Carolina is likely to take over as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Scott has recently expressed support for cryptocurrencies and has attended the Nashville Bitcoin Conference.
Conversely, if Moreno fails to defeat Brown and the Democrats hold a majority in the Senate, then Brown is likely to remain in office and continue his current attitude and influence on cryptocurrencies.
Of course, there are also two low-probability scenarios. The first is that the Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, but Moreno is defeated, in which case Scott may still be able to take over as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee by virtue of the Republican's seat advantage; the second scenario is that the Democrats hold a majority in the Senate, but Moreno wins, in which case Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts is likely to take over from Brown, and Warren is also opposed to cryptocurrencies.
In summary, Moreno's challenge to Brown is likely to determine the outcome of the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee, and as long as Moreno wins Ohio, the Republicans will have a better chance of gaining an advantage in the Senate, thereby ending Brown's high-pressure regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies.
