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Billionaire crypto executive and political mega-donor Sam Bankman-Fried has turned off the campaign contribution spy with less than a month to go before the 2022 midterm elections. In an interview with MM, he insisted it was always part of the plan — even if everyone else thought he would go further.
Bankman-Fried has thrown almost $40 million into super PACs and campaigns during the 2022 cycle. And while that’s enough to make him one of the biggest donors in politics — with most Democrats — it’s only a fraction of short of the $1 billion he previously said he would be willing to spend on racing between now and 2024.
“That was a stupid quote on my part,” the 30-year-old founder of global crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research said in an interview Wednesday. “I think my messaging was kind of choppy and inconsistent at times.”
That’s bad news for Democratic leaders, who have been sounding the alarm about stockpiling to fend off Republicans. in November.
Bankman-Fried said this the release of his wealth in the final days of the race would do little to enhance his political advantages. In addition to the new rules for crypto exchanges, the billionaire has also been a vocal advocate for pandemic preparedness.
“I think preliminary is more important,” said Bankman-Fried, who was in Washington for conference appearances this week. “Honestly, I can try to talk about pandemic preparedness in a general election. But most voters will say, “That’s nice, but like, I’m a Democrat” or “I’m a Republican.” This will not move the needle enough to consider all the other issues.”
What’s more, while super PACs funded by Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives have generally supported winning candidates in primaries, they have also suffered high-profile losses in some of the races where they were most active.
“At some point, when you’ve given your message to the voters, there’s not much more you can do,” Bankman-Fried said. “You can spend more time on it, and more texting, more money, more everything else, [but] you are not achieving anything more.”
Read more of the Bankman-Fried conversation in POLITICO Pro.
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Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo convenes members of the global sanctions coalition against Russia’s aggression at the Treasury at 8 a.m. … Retail sales and import price data were released at 8:30 a.m. … Consumer sentiment data on University of Michigan were released at 10 a.m. … Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook speaks at a National Bankers Association conference at 10:30 a.m. … Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen holds a news conference at the IMF at 1:30 p.m.
ELON INVESTIGATED — Bloomberg’s Tom Giles: “Billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities in connection with his attempted acquisition of Twitter Inc., lawyers for the social media company wrote in a Delaware court filing.”
RAIMONDO ON FEAR OF RECESSION: EVERYTHING IS GOOD – Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Thursday that she does not consider an economic recession certain. “The way I see it, a recession is not inevitable,” she said in an appearance on Bloomberg TV. “Certainly any kind of significant recession, I think, is not absolutely inevitable.”
PAYPAL CRIMES – Senator Tim Scott (RS.C.) – will be the top Republican on the Banking Committee next year – waded into the fintech culture wars this week in a letter to PayPal that warned the company to reject a deprecated policy update that would have fined users $2,500 for spreading misinformation. The company pulled the update not long after it went out, saying it was “never intended to fall into our policy.”
In another possible cultural point for banks, JPMorgan Chase and Ye – aka Kanye West – severed ties after a series of social media attacks the rapper and designer attacked the bank, its CEO Jamie Dimon and other top executives.
While some have tried to connect Wednesday night revelations to string of racist and anti-Semitic comments Ye has posted on social media over the past week, a source with knowledge of the letter said it was sent on Sept. 20 — days after the rapper told CNBC he was pulling his money from JPMorgan because “Jamie Dimon never calls me.”
FED Whisperer — Here’s a fun one: NY Magazine profiles WSJ Fed reporter Nick Timiraos. “On Wall Street and in Washington, Nick Timiraos, chief economic correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, is jokingly referred to as the ‘Fed Whisperer’ or even ‘Chairman Timiraos’ for his latest insight into the bank’s next move central,” writes Jen. Wieczner.
Fair enough: “John Krasinski would be a lock to play Timiraos in a movie.”
PREPARING FOR EVIL – Bloomberg’s Lu Wang and Peyton Forte: “Wall Street’s hopes that the Federal Reserve might be able to ease its battle against inflation later this year were decisively dashed Thursday when consumer price index data for in September they suddenly got hot.”
DIMON DOWNER– Bloomberg’s Hannah Levitt: “Jamie Dimon said the Federal Reserve probably can’t cool the red-hot economy without triggering a recession.”
BUT, BUT, BUT– WSJ’s Karen Langley and Caitlin Ossoff: “U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday in a big reversal, as investors decided fresh evidence of high inflation wasn’t as bad as it first seemed.”
JUMPING BENEFITS – WSJ’s Anne Tergesen: “Social Security checks will be 8.7% bigger in 2023, the biggest cost-of-living adjustment to benefits in four decades, the Social Security Administration said Thursday. The extra funds will provide relief for many of the roughly 70 million Social Security recipients whose budgets have been strained by high inflation and whose nest eggs have been frozen by falling stock and bond markets.
Dollars and Cents: The average monthly benefit check for retirees will rise to $1,814 starting in January, up from $1,669 this year, per the WSJ.
BLACKROCK STUMBLE – WSJ’s Angel Au-Yeung: “A deteriorating market weighed on investment giant BlackRock Inc. in the third quarter, sending profit down 16%.
KASTLE meter in the office —Bloomberg’s Sarah Holder: “The 50-year-old company has become, if not exactly a household name, at least the most recognizable player in a not-so-sexy industry — and a key participant in the ongoing conversation about when, and if, workers in distance will return to their desks. If the office as we once knew it is dying, Kastle is determined to trace its final days.”
OCC CHIEF PRODS STARTS TO ‘GROW’ – Fran Velasquez of Coindesk: “Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Michael Hsu says a lack of focus on some crypto companies with plans to expand is preventing agencies like him from setting regulatory standards. “Part of this confusion is because there are parts of the crypto industry that don’t know what they want to be when they grow up,” Hsu said.
THE CHALLENGE STILL NEEDS – Bloomberg’s David Pan: “Uniswap Labs has secured more funding even as the crypto market struggles and investors begin to lose faith in decentralized finance. The exchange said Thursday it has secured $165 million in a Series B funding round, valuing the company at $1.66 billion.
A LESS THAN FANTASTIC TRAVELER — Bloomberg’s Jeremy Hill: “Creditors to Voyager Digital Ltd. are opposing plans to grant the crypto lender’s directors and officers immunity from lawsuits related to its descent into bankruptcy.”
Jamie Wall is now VP and head of ExxonMobil’s Washington office. She was most recently EVP of advocacy at SIFMA and is an alum of Honeywell, Subject Matter and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). – Daniel Lippmann
Global life and health insurance company Reinsurance Group of America appointed Steve Simchak AND Christopher Winship to serve as vice president and head of the company’s Washington office and vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs for Asia, respectively.
Federal Trade Commission, America’s premier business watchdog, is also home to Washington’s most active Wall Street investors. – WSJ’s Brody Mullins, Rebecca Ballhaus, Chad Day, John West and Coulter Jones
Leaders from American banking giants on Thursday said strict capital requirements, which were tightened after the 2008 financial crisis, could curb economic activity. — Reuters’ Saeed Azhar and Lananh Nguyen
Leaders of Harvard University The $51 billion funds have warned of significant cuts to come in their private equity and venture capital portfolios, predicting big losses for institutional investors. — FT’s Antoine Gara
