Crypto's strategy of lies and terror

The crypto cartel's sudden rise as a force in politics is part of a shock and awe campaign to scare politicians into supporting crypto.
“It’s a simple message,” said one person familiar with the Fairshake PAC, a pro-crypto group that has raised over $200 million for the 2024 election. “If you are pro-crypto, we will help you, and if you are anti we will tear you apart.”
The quote comes from a stunning New Yorker article by Charles Duhigg headlined "Silicon Valley, the New Lobbying Monster." (Note: there may be a paywall)

The story makes it clear that crypto is engaged in an obscenely well-funded campaign to bully politicians into pro-crypto stances. And it won't hesitate to lie in order to send a message. For example, Fairshake spent $10 million to attack Rep. Katie Porter, who was running for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein's former seat earlier this year, even though Porter had not taken an anti-crypto stance.
From the story:
The negative campaign had a palpable effect: Porter, who had initially polled well, lost decisively in the primary, coming in third, with just fifteen per cent of the vote. But, according to a person familiar with Fairshake, the super PAC’s intent wasn’t simply to damage her. The group’s backers didn’t care all that much about Porter. Rather, the person familiar with Fairshake said, the goal of the attack campaign was to terrify other politicians—“to warn anyone running for office that, if you are anti-crypto, the industry will come after you.”
Crypto's crooked and ruthless pressure campaign may seem like something cooked up by Trump Republicans, but it's being run by a longtime Democratic operative named Chris Lehane. He's a former Clinton White House aide who introduced the term "vast right-wing conspiracy" to describe Republican efforts to take down Clinton in the 1990s. Now he's being paid top-dollar to engage in what Duhigg describes as a "vast techno-political conspiracy" against anyone perceived as unfriendly to the scammy, crime-fueling and environmentally destructive technology known as cryptocurrency.
This highlights a grim fact about the future. With so much money to throw around, these far-right crypto and tech interests can buy up political talent on both sides of the aisle. And while it's not unusual for politicians or their staffers to sell out to corporate interests, this takes on quite a different meaning when they're selling out to corporate interests that overtly seek to topple democratic governance.
I encourage you to read Duhigg's shocking essay – and please share it with everyone you know.