PAC Fairshake was created in response to Gensler, Ripple CEO says in '60 Minutes' interview

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler's reign over the crypto industry may have prompted the creation of Ripple-backed super political action committee Fairshake. 

During a "60 Minutes " on CBS aired Sunday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said companies came together as part of a reaction to a "war on crypto." The SEC's approach toward crypto was the top reason why Ripple and other companies created Fairshake, according to 60 Minutes.  

"I'm not sure Fairshake would exist," Garlinghouse said due to the SEC's approach.

Fairshake raised over $200 million in the election cycle and received funding from major crypto companies and investment firms, including Coinbase and a16z. The super PAC said it "supports candidates solely through its independent activities" and supports candidates who want to make the U.S. home to innovators. 

Fairshake contributed to many down-ticket elections, including the Ohio Senate race in November. Fairshake donated $12 million to Republican crypto-friendly candidate Bernie Moreno, who later clinched a win in November against Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, a crypto industry critic. 

Gensler's exit

Gensler  announced last month that he will step down on January 20, 2025, the day of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. While at the agency, Gensler maintained that most cryptocurrencies qualify as securities and urged crypto firms to register with the SEC. Some in the crypto industry have fought back, saying that it's impossible to register with the agency, partly because rules were made for more traditional entities that are different from the digital asset industry. 

Meanwhile, Ripple has been embroiled in a legal fight with the SEC for years. In 2020, during Trump's first administration, the SEC accused the firm of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which the agency says is an unregistered security.

Last week, Trump tapped crypto-friendly Paul Atkins to lead the SEC in 2025. 

Gensler made his latest jab at the crypto industry on Dec. 6 before the Financial Stability Oversight Council, or FSOC. FSOC is part of the U.S. Department of Treasury and is tasked with monitoring the financial markets and looking for threats to the financial system. 

Gensler said that investors will get harmed if entities don't comply with the SEC's rules.

"... with regard to the crypto markets, without compliance with our time-tested rules related to disclosures, conflicts, and business conduct, investors will get harmed—similar to what we've seen all too often over the last four years," Gensler said. "Though these markets are well less than one percent of our capital markets, such non-compliance not only can undermine trust that investors, issuers, and market participants have in our financial system, but also risks being imported to the rest of the financial system."

Former SEC enforcement lead John Reed Stark, also interviewed by "60 Minutes," said the agency needs to take a step back from crypto. 

"As far as these election results are concerned, the clear mandate is the SEC needs to lay off crypto And that's exactly what's gonna happen," Stark said.