Crypto Fundraising Startup Aims for Midterm Election Donations

Political software company Engage Labs is betting on people putting their crypto where their votes are, and they’re helping candidates make it happen.

Digital fundraising is an important part of the election campaign, Engage CEO Martin Dobelle told Blockworks – so allowing candidates to accept crypto donations is a logical next step.

“Politics is more important than ever to the blockchain space and to the future of blockchain innovation,” said Dobelle. “There’s obviously been an increase in political contributions from the space, but most of it hasn’t been in the form of crypto, and — from talking to voters — we know people would love to do that.”

Engage Raise, the firm’s donation platform launched in July 2022, is now working with 16 US congressional candidates to facilitate cryptocurrency contributions directly to candidates. The platform is useful for candidates and especially their compliance and finance teams who may not be as experienced with digital assets, Dobelle said.

“We had a pretty easy time registering a slate of candidates,” Dobelle said. “We are a non-partisan company; we are a non-profit corporation; and we care about community engagement in the digital age. We believe that for it to be truly credible, it cannot be biased.”

The team declined to comment on how many donations candidates have received through the platform, but said the average has been about $1,000 per donor. The most popular token for donations has been the stablecoin USDC, followed by Ethereum’s native ether (ETH).

It’s no surprise that crypto-conscious voters are taking a more active role in campaign finance, according to Jeffery Howard, head of North American business development and institutional sales at digital asset and software-as-a-service provider OSL.

“This election is the most consistent election for crypto,” Howard said. “Ahead of [the last session of congress]crypto just wasn’t a problem…regulators didn’t pay attention to it therefore politicians didn’t pay attention to it.

However, the landscape has changed, Howard added.

For his part, Dobelle said that in order to convince politicians that cryptoassets are a “legitimate financial tool for the future” it “doesn’t help your case” to make a donation via a check or some other form of fiat.

“That’s why we’re seeing increasing demand from people in the community to send money in crypto,” he said.

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