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Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno has sold all his Bitcoin to avoid potential conflicts of interest given his substantial backing from the crypto industry. Moreno has over $40 million in backing for his media campaign from the Defend American Jobs PAC, linked to Fairshake, and has received direct contributions from several key figures in the crypto world. However, major Fairshake donor Ron Conway rescinded his support for the PAC upon learning of its support for Moreno. If elected, Moreno plans to provide a legal framework for the crypto industry. His official campaign policies do not specifically mention digital assets or blockchain technology.

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So here’s the deal. Bernie Moreno, a Republican running for a Senate seat in Ohio, has announced that he sold all his Bitcoin. This move seems to be his way of trying to avoid any potential conflict of interest issues due to his backing from the crypto industry.

Moreno is stoked about having the support of the crypto industry for his campaign. He’s even managed to gather over $40 million in backing for his media campaign from the Defend American Jobs political action committee (PAC), which is linked to Fairshake—a group that mainly supports Republican candidates. Moreno made it clear that the crypto industry backs him due to shared views, not because he’s influenced by them.

Moreno is currently battling for the Senator seat against Sherrod Brown, who happens to be the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. Brown isn’t a huge fan of digital currencies and has a long history as a senator since 2007. Polls suggest it’s going to be a close race between the two that might influence the majority control of the Senate.

If Brown wins but the Republicans manage to get a majority in the Senate, he’ll have to give up his chairmanship of the Banking Committee in 2025.

Apart from the backing from the PAC, Moreno has also received direct contributions from big-league crypto figures including the Winklevoss twins who founded Gemini, and Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase.

However, Ron Conway, a major donor to Fairshake, reportedly withdrew his support for the crypto PAC when he found out they were supporting Moreno.

Unlike seasoned politician Brown, Moreno has not held any elected offices before. As a businessman, he’s tried to get Ohio to accept tax payments in Bitcoin in 2018, but it didn’t quite pan out. If he’s elected, he plans to provide a stable legal framework for the crypto industry.

Even though Moreno’s campaign receives significant crypto backing, his official campaign policies don’t really touch on digital assets or blockchain technology.

The race between Moreno and Brown could be one of the costliest, next only to the presidential fight between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The overall spend by the candidates and PACs on the Ohio Senate race campaigns and media ads is reported to be in excess of $400 million.

Source: Cointelegraph