Crypto's $130 million congressional election binge has candidates like Utah's John Curtis poised for big wins

SALT LAKE CITY — John Curtis, a Republican congressman from Utah, has become a favorite of the crypto industry in his bid to win the Senate seat held by the departing Mitt Romney. He took a somewhat oblong route through the telecommunications sector to get there.

At an event in Salt Lake City last week, Curtis told a few dozen crypto enthusiasts that he had a conversation a few years ago with some fellow House members about internet service providers and how to incentivize them to boost their offerings. The various lawmakers were throwing around different connection speeds — 50 megabits, 100 megabits — but when Curtis asked whether they'd ever run a speed test, he got puzzling responses.

"They looked at me like I was from another planet," Curtis told the crowd at the Permissionless conference.

Curtis, 64, said he realized then that lawmakers needed to be smarter about regulations and actually understand the user experience. That's particularly true in crypto, he said.

"This is so important to get government involved, because if they don't understand what you're doing, they'll make really bad decisions," the Provo-based congressman said, as the attendees nodded their head in unison. "The worst part of regulation is its unpredictability."

Curtis' attitude toward crypto is a big reason why digital coin enthusiasts have filled his coffers in his campaign against Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich, setting him up for what appears to be a landslide victory next month.

The Defend American Jobs PAC, a single-issue committee focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain policy, has contributed more than $1.9 million to Curtis' campaign, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by crypto market and blockchain analyst James