In brief

  • FTX exchange founder donated 5.2 million to the campaign of US presidential candidate Joe Biden.
  • The crypto exchange stands among other notable contributors including Bloomberg LP and Google parent firm Alphabet.
  • According to the AP, Biden only needs 6 more electoral college votes to snatch the presidency.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of crypto derivatives exchange FTX, counts himself among one of Joe Biden's top campaign contributors with a $5.2 million donation.

As the divisive US election chugs along, news of the donation has spread through crypto Twitter.

"Biden - funded by yield farming," quipped Nansen CEO Alex Svanvik in a nod to FTX's DeFi Index futures contract.

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The donation disclosure came per Opensecrets.org, a website aggregating the top contributors to the 2020 US presidential race.

While the prize for the largest contribution goes to Bloomberg LP, with a  $57.5 million donation, FTX's comparatively humble $5.2 million handout comes in close behind that of Google's parent company, Alphabet, which offered the Biden campaign $6.3 million.

According to crypto researcher Adam Cochran, rather than going to Biden directly, FTX's hefty donation went to a political action committee (PAC) based out of Silicon Valley. 

"That can be either top ticket support or corporate lobbying," Cochran remarked.

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For many, however—regardless of the donation vehicle—nothing changes the fact that a crypto exchange is now permanently etched as a top contributor for a potential US president.

Indeed, as results trickle in, it's becoming more and more likely that Bankman-Fried backed the winning candidate. According to the Associated Press, Biden remains firmly in the lead with 264 electoral college votes to Trump's 214.

Put another way, Biden only needs 6 more electoral college votes to secure the 46th US presidency—and it's a crypto exchange that helped him get there.

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