Sam Bankman-Fried just Handed $16 Million to Super PACs

In the run-up to the US midterm elections later this year, crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried injected $16 million into political outside spending groups in April, according to Bloomberg. According to Federal Election Commission filings, $10 million of those donations to super political action committees went to Protect Our Future. The remaining $6 million was donated to the House Majority PAC, which is affiliated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Bankman-Fried made the contributions as the summer primary season began. Super PACs can raise an unlimited amount of money from backers, including individuals and corporations, to be used in candidates' campaigns. According to Bloomberg, the FTX CEO's latest injection brings his total in this election cycle to as much as $31.5 million. This has resulted in a slew of advertisements and other promotions, prompting some to accuse Bankman-Fried of attempting to "buy" elections.

According to ProPublica data, Protect Our Future, which claims to be dedicated to preventing the next pandemic, has spent nearly $24 million on campaigns in 2022. It spent a large portion of that, $13.5 million, to promote Democrat Carrick Flynn's bid in an Oregon primary, which the former artificial intelligence researcher lost.