FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has announced his potential to contribute over $100 million in the upcoming US presidential election, with a soft cap reaching as high as $1 billion.
This significant political commitment was disclosed during a Podcast Interview with Jacob Goldstein on the Voyager Industries podcast.
The cryptocurrency billionaire indicated he would be willing to spend close to $1 billion if former US President, Donald Trump, decided to run again. Should he follow through on this pledge, Bankman-Fried would become the most significant political donor in any election in American history.
While appearing on the What's Your Problem podcast, he mentioned that the political landscape would determine his exact contribution strategy. In his statement,
“I would estimate north of $100 million. As for how much more than that, I don't know. It really depends on what happens. It's highly dependent on exactly who's running where for what.”
When questioned about how much he would contribute to a candidate running against former President Trump, he confirmed that he could potentially spend up to $1 billion.
“[$1 billion] is a decent figure to consider as a — I would hate to say hard cap, because who knows what's going to happen between now and then — but at least sort of as a soft cap.”
According to the campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets website, electoral donations of this magnitude could have a "disruptive effect" over the US elections and overall politics.
A donation of this scale would place SBF in the league of mega-donors like the Adelsons, Michael Bloomberg, and the Koch brothers.
Bankman-Fried is one of the wealthiest individuals in the cryptocurrency sector and is estimated to be worth over $20 billion. He donated $5.2 million to President Joe Biden's campaign for office.
SBF's intention to spend more if former President Donald Trump should run for office is not surprising given the ex-president's stance toward the cryptocurrency industry.
Trump, on multiple occasions, has described cryptocurrencies as a scam during his presidency and even after leaving office.
Last year, he reportedly said that Bitcoin appears to be a scam and that he dislikes it because it's a currency competing against the US dollar.
Therefore, Trump seeking re-election would present a significant challenge for the crypto industry where Bankman-Fried and his company are major stakeholders.
