Sinema’s post-politics future tied to crypto, business interests
Trump tells crypto team to draft new rules, explore US stockpile
“Hello bitcoiners!” He courted cryptocurrency fans during his election campaign. “If crypto is going to define the future, I want to be mined, minted and made in the USA, and it’s going to be.” Now Donald Trump is taking steps to deliver on his promise to be a “crypto president.”
- Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema joins Coinbase’s global advisory council alongside other prominent figures.
- Sinema aims to work toward bipartisan cryptocurrency legislation during the Trump administration.
- Coinbase touts Sinema and the other new council members as “some of the brightest minds across finance, tech, and politics.”
Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is among a group of new consultants from politics and finance joining a leading cryptocurrency advocate as the organization looks to significantly expand the use of crypto services during the Trump administration.
Coinbase Global Inc. announced Wednesday that Sinema was part of its global advisory council, along with Chris LaCivita, the co-campaign manager for President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection. Bill Dudley, the former president of the New York Fed, and Luis Alberto Moreno, an international finance expert, are also joining the council.
“I think one of the most important things for the crypto community is to get a piece of legislation passed in both the House and Senate, in a bipartisan way, and signed by President Trump,” Sinema told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported her new post.
“The good actors want a regulatory framework so they know where they can act and what to stay away from. It also provides an opportunity to police the bad actors.”
The company welcomed Sinema and the others as “some of the brightest minds across finance, tech, and politics.”
Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, said in a company statement: “Our four new members are world-class leaders in their respective fields and we look forward to their contributions as the world enters a new era for crypto.”
Crypto’s fortunes may get a lift in an era dominated by Trump, who launched a meme coin days before reentering the White House.
Investor interest in that asset alone quickly topped $14 billion, though it has slumped back to $5 billion in market capitalization. A similar Melania Trump-themed token is worth $334 million.
Sinema, an independent who left office earlier this month after a single Senate term, had been on the Senate’s Commerce and Banking committees, two perches that gave her an outsized interest in the finance industry.
Her relations with the related crypto industry seemed to blossom in 2021 when she co-founded the Financial Innovation Caucus with Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.
The $1.2 trillion national infrastructure law that Sinema helped broker faced a significant snag at one point over a provision that helped shape regulations for the crypto industry. Revenues from regulation were intended to help fund the infrastructure measure.
Sinema raked in at least $500,000 from crypto-backed firms, according to a 2023 tally by the Intercept. She received nearly $10,000 from the CEO and an engineer with Coinbase in September 2023.
It was part of a campaign war chest heavily fueled by the finance industry in the period after Sinema quit the Democratic Party in late 2022 and was coy about seeking a second term as an independent.
Sinema continued to raise money throughout 2023, though she never really geared up for a campaign. Facing a deadline to qualify for the Arizona ballot, Sinema officially announced her retirement plan in March 2024.
In touting Sinema’s resume, Coinbase identified Sinema as president and CEO of the Arizona Business Roundtable, a startup Sinema formally created with the Arizona Corporation Commission on the day she left office in Washington.
The Arizona Agenda reported that the Arizona Business Roundtable seeks to tout corporate views for members who buy a seat at the table for $250,000 each.
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