American Blockchain PAC Endorses Shanelle Jackson

The American Blockchain PAC announced Sunday that it had selected a Democrat running to unseat incumbent Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) as the recipient of its first endorsement in a federal election.

“Among all candidates, we chose Shanelle Jackson because of her voting record as a state representative in the Michigan State House,” PAC founder Todd White said in a statement. “There is no question that Shanelle’s leadership skills will have immediate impact, shaping policy on the digital assets industry as a freshman lawmaker.”

Jackson, 42, served in the Michigan House from 2007-13 and ran an unsuccessful primary campaign for the United States House against Tlaib during her first election in 2018. Jackson took 5 percent of the vote in that year’s six-way race, while Tlaib prevailed with 31 percent, in the state’s 13th district.

Redistricting means the two will be squaring off this year in the state’s newly drawn 12th district, which is currently represented by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D). The candidate who wins the Aug. 2 Democratic primary will become the likely winner of November’s general election.

Tlaib has been an active critic of crypto over the last several years. She co-authored a proposal in 2020 that would have required stablecoin issuers to ask the Federal Reserve to approve their tokens. And in June, she joined a group of Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in sending a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy that asked regulators to investigate energy usage by bitcoin miners.

Jackson has made the issue a cornerstone of her campaign with a website that prominently offers supporters the ability to contribute to her using Coinbase or Bitpay. And in a position statement, she takes aim at Tlaib over the issue, calling her opposition to crypto “racist.”

“Wrongheaded members of Congress, like my opponent Ms. Tlaib, believe that everyday people of color can’t make financial decisions for themselves, without government oversight and overreach,” Jackson wrote in the statement on her website. “They have been quick to attempt to overregulate cryptocurrency and limit opportunities for everyday people to use it as a tool to build generational wealth. That attitude is racist and paternalistic.

“I will support cryptocurrency and fight hard against overregulation,” Jackson added. “I will partner with leaders in the cryptocurrency community to encourage crypto investment, particularly among those who have been locked out of traditional investment opportunities. I’ll also work with the cryptocurrency community to teach and promote financial literacy in communities of color across America, to further ensure that this new tool and others are used wisely.”

In the American Blockchain PAC statement endorsing Jackson on Sunday, CEO Adelle Nazarian added, “We are proud to endorse her for Congress and excited for the energy and power she will bring to Washington, D.C. to help empower her constituents while protecting and advancing innovation through her support for the blockchain’s distributed ledger technology, crypto, and virtual assets.”