Moreno's Embrace of Crypto Pits Him Against Anti-Crypto Sherrod Brown

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) anti-digital currency posture pits him against pro-crypto Senate Republican candidate Bernie Moreno, who has championed moves to turn Cleveland into a crypto hub.

Brown, as the chair of the influential Banking Committee, has become one of the loudest critics of the burgeoning digital asset industry, which includes cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

However, since former President Donald Trump endorsed Moreno in the hotly contested Senate Republican primary, he could very likely vie against Moreno, a former car dealer, who is staunchly supportive of the growing industry.

Trump said of Moreno:

Remember, we need a successful political outsider like Bernie to defeat Liberal career politician, Sherrod Brown, who has so poorly represented Ohio, and pretends that he’s all for the Policies of your Favorite President, Donald J. Trump, but then gets to the Senate and votes 100% for the horrendous Policies of Crooked Joe Biden, the worst President in the History of our Country. Don’t be fooled by Sherrod Brown. He is a Radical Left Liberal who will always let you down. He does not stand for Ohio Values, and never will. Bernie Moreno, on the other hand, will ALWAYS put America First.

Moreno has championed initiatives to turn Cleveland, into a hub that uses blockchain technology, or the digital ledger technology that helps many digital assets run. The Senate Republican candidate has also funded a blockchain startup and paid some of his businesses’ taxes in Bitcoin.

Brown and Moreno stand as polar opposites on innovation in financial technology as Democrats have become increasingly critical of the industry, while Republicans have largely embraced the industry. The stakes have never been higher as the digital asset industry is aiming to spend more than $78 million to influence the upcoming election cycles.

Moreno views the industry as part of the American fabric — that America is built on leading on innovation.

“A career politician like Sherrod Brown has absolutely no idea how digital currencies work and is the least qualified person possible to regulate the industry. Innovation is what built America into the greatest country on earth. Sadly, left-wing extremists like Brown want more government control to restrict the ability of Americans to invest freely in cryptocurrencies,” Moreno said in a statement to Politico.

“Sherrod Brown takes a back seat to no one when it comes to standing up to special interests — including crypto — to level the playing field for Ohioans and protect them from fraud,” Brown campaign manager Rachel Petri said.

The crypto industry has launched several ad campaigns and other town halls hoping to make the industry a focal part of the election cycle:

The crypto industry’s 2024 political push has had an early focus on Ohio. A pro-crypto dark money group, the Cedar Innovation Foundation, launched a six-figure digital ad campaign in the state aimed at pressuring Brown and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler. Coinbase, the largest U.S. digital asset exchange, has hosted a pair of town halls in Ohio as part of a grassroots “Stand with Crypto” campaign. (None of the major pro-crypto groups have backed Moreno or any of Brown’s other potential opponents.)

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who is a staunch advocate for the crypto industry, said, “Personnel is policy. The current Senate Banking Chairman is terrible on policy.”