Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is about to “knife the crypto community” after he took $10 million from a pro-crypto super PAC during the contentious 2024 Senate election.
Gallego narrowly defeated Republican Kari Lake during the 2024 Senate election to replace the outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
During the battleground Senate election, Gallego received $10 million from super PACs backed by three large crypto companies, which includes Coinbase, a leading digital currency exchange. Gallego had spoken favorably about crypto in the past and StandwithCrypto had promoted his pro-crypto stances in the past.
The crypto community’s generous support of Gallego may have put him over the edge during the 2024 Senate election.
Despite his alleged pro-crypto stances and his backing from the pro-crypto, Gallego is now leading the opposition against legislation that would provide a clear and light-tough regulatory framework for stablecoins, a key part of the cryptocurrency infrastructure.
It has been described by some former Republican communicators as a “knife” in the crypto community’s back.
Stablecoins are dollar-denominated digital assets that are pegged to the value of a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. Sending stablecoins is more efficient than sending dollars, which helps expand financial inclusion and strengthen the dollar’s leadership as the world’s reserve currency. It also increases demand for U.S. Treasuries.
Sens. Gallego, Mark Warner (D-VA), Andy Kim (D-NJ) backed the bill in its original form during the Banking Committee’s markup in March.
“It’s clear that digital assets are here to stay,” Gallego said after the Senate Banking Committee hearing.
The Senate Democrats’ opposition may also confuse readers, as even Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) discussed the need to pass a stablecoin bill using legislation to the reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2024.
“You can’t try to f*** us and then say, hey, deal with it,” Gallego said on Wednesday. “That’s just not going to work, especially when you still need our votes.”
Despite this, Senate Republican leadership will move to advance the legislation on Thursday afternoon.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
