COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno said Monday that he is proud to have the support of the cryptocurrency industry, which has previously supported Ohio’s election on his behalf. He has spent tens of millions of dollars in fierce Senate races.
Moreno, a Cleveland businessman, said at a campaign event in Columbus that if elected to the Senate, he would seek to provide “regulatory certainty” to Bitcoin and other digital currencies. He accused his rival, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Cleveland, of wanting to “ban” Bitcoin but not having even a basic understanding of how cryptocurrencies work.
“Let’s end the myth here: The crypto industry doesn’t want regulation. That’s just untrue,” Moreno said.
But Moreno said government regulators are now “punishing” crypto companies with rules they didn’t even know existed. “What I want to do is give them some regulatory certainty so they understand that there are guardrails here, there are rules of the road here,” Moreno said.
Moreno said he supports the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, which is being called for by some members of both major political parties. He also said he believes Americans should be allowed to make up some, but not all, of their 401(k) retirement accounts with investments in cryptocurrencies. Many employers have become cautious about this since the U.S. Department of Labor issued an advisory. In 2022, he expressed “serious concerns” about the idea.
Moreno said the 2024 Ohio Senate race will be the most expensive non-presidential political election in U.S. history, with more than $460 million in advertising to date, according to media reports. The cost is said to have been secured.
The single biggest spender in the race is a pro-cryptocurrency super PAC called Defend American Jobs, which launched a nearly $41 million ad campaign on Moreno’s behalf in recent weeks. The industry even hosted a free rock concert last Friday in their hometown of Akron featuring The Black Keys.
Moreno has been a vocal advocate of cryptocurrencies since long before he ran for Senate. He successfully pushed for Ohio to become the first state to accept Bitcoin for tax purposes in 2018, and led leaders in Northeast Ohio to embrace blockchain, the powerhouse behind Bitcoin and other digital currencies. I have been advocating for many years to adopt it. He founded and sold a company called Champ Titles that incorporated blockchain into the auto title industry.
“I’m proud that the industry is supporting me,” Moreno said Monday. “By the way, they supported me because they agree with me, not because I agree with them.”
Moreno said he sold all his Bitcoin in case anyone suspected he was supporting cryptocurrencies for personal gain, adding: “(I felt) very disappointed.” he added.
The crypto industry isn’t just spending millions in the Ohio Senate race to support Moreno. That’s because Brown, an outspoken skeptic of cryptocurrencies, chairs the Senate Banking Committee, which gives him considerable influence over the federal government’s crypto policy.
Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group that rates political candidates based on their support for the cryptocurrency industry, gave Moreno an “A” grade. Brown earned an “F.”
The fight between Brown and Moreno, considered one of the most competitive races in the country this year, comes as crypto companies seek to push for major reforms in how the industry is regulated, including It also includes a bill that would shift oversight of cryptocurrencies away from U.S. stock exchanges. Exchange fees will be transferred to the smaller Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Moreno blasted Brown’s past statements that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
External research has also shown this to be true, with an investigation last July finding that cryptocurrencies have been involved in nearly $100 billion worth of illegal money laundering transactions since 2019. But Moreno pointed to the case of British bank HSBC, which paid a record amount at the time. In 2012, $1.9 billion was spent solving money laundering cases.
“If you happened to find a stranger in the[Cleveland Browns’]stadium, they would be more knowledgeable and better qualified to regulate cryptocurrencies than Sherrod Brown,” Moreno said. “That guy probably doesn’t even understand how email works, let alone understand how to regulate cryptocurrencies.”
Asked for comment on Moreno’s comments, Brown campaign spokesman Reeves Oyster said, “Outside groups are spending record amounts of money to bring down Sherrod, because Sherrod is working for special interests. Because they know they will always fight for the state of Ohio.”
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
