TL;DR
- Senator Chris Murphy accused Coinbase of using $46M in donations to influence the SEC and gain favoritism from Trump.
- Coinbase’s Faryar Shirzad called the accusations “ridiculous,” asserting that its PAC, Fairshake, is bipartisan.
- Shirzad counterattacked, accusing the SEC’s previous leadership of “bullying and abuse of power” against crypto companies.
Coinbase has forcefully refuted accusations of political interference made by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, who alleged the cryptocurrency exchange benefited from political bias under the administration of President Donald Trump.
The controversy erupted when Murphy claimed that Coinbase’s partisan contributions and other business dealings coerced the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into dismissing a lawsuit against it.
The senator detailed that the platform donated $46 million to support individuals connected to Trump and made substantial payments to the president’s inaugural fund. Murphy also included Coinbase in an initiative to purchase a new White House ballroom, labeling it part of “Trump’s corruption factory.”
These accusations come amid an intense struggle within the Democratic Party over alleged interference in financial policy, in which Murphy has also pointed to Binance.US.
Coinbase Defends its Conduct and Criticizes the SEC
In response, Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, called Murphy’s accusations “ridiculous” and lacking foundation. Shirzad denied that the Trump administration favored Coinbase, explaining that the company’s main PAC, Fairshake, is bipartisan and has supported several Democrats, including three of Senator Murphy’s colleagues.
Furthermore, he clarified that the donations for the White House ballroom were sent to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonpartisan corporation, calling it a “civic project” and not a political one.
Shirzad defended the SEC’s decision to drop the case, arguing that the agency’s previous leadership had engaged in “bullying and abuse of power” towards cryptocurrency companies.
He maintained that the current leadership simply “did the right thing on the merits” of the case. This clash highlights how accusations of political interference have become intertwined with the crypto industry, which has invested significantly in politics since 2022 through donors like Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz. Shirzad concluded that Coinbase’s campaign focuses on “transparency, innovation, and fairness,” not partiality.
