Sam Bankman-Fried intends to invest up to $1 billion in the next US presidential election

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CEO of cryptocurrencyFTX exchange Sam Bankman-Fried wants to very significantly support “his” candidate in the next US presidential election, which will be held in 2024.

In the podcast “What’s Your Problem?» Sam Bankman-Fried said that he could invest about $100 million in the election campaign, and the maximum investment amount could reach $1 billion. At the same time, it seems that if Donald Trump runs in the elections, then the amount will be closer to $1 billion.

“I think the amount will be closer to $100 million.As for the money from above - I don’t know yet, it really depends a lot on future events and on who will participate in the race. $1 billion seems to be the maximum. I wouldn’t say “absolute maximum”, but definitely a “soft limit”. Again, everything depends on future events,” said Sam Bankman-Fried.

As noted by an analyst at Open SecretsFor Alex Baumgart, who tracks political campaign funding, the $1 billion figure is "consistent with a single election campaign." 

According to Open Secrets, previously the largestcampaign donations came from Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam. In total, they donated $218 million, and on average, the largest “donors” to election campaigns contribute between $40 and $60 million.

“If funds are really invested in suchvolume, this could have a strong impact on US policy. Although it is unknown whether such an investment will bring the expected results. He will obviously weigh his decision many times,” Baumgart said.

This year Sam Bankman-Fried has already spentabout $20 million to support Democratic candidates. His fortune is now estimated at $20 billion. It was recently reported that the FTX exchange is in negotiations with three brokerage startups: Public.com, Webull and Apex Clearing. Most likely, the site intends to enter the securities trading market.