Stand with Crypto, a nonprofit advocacy group for the cryptocurrency industry, has been texting Ohioans. I know this because I’ve been getting the messages.
“This election is crucial for the future of crypto, and your voice matters,” one text read.
“Crypto” refers to a bevy of digital currencies that aren’t tied to a particular national government. Bitcoin and Ethereum are two of the best known.
The texts didn’t back a particular candidate. Instead, they encouraged voter registration and directed users to Stand with Crypto’s online voter guide.
Supported by the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Stand with Crypto grades politicians’ support for cryptocurrency. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a crypto skeptic who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, has an F. Republican challenger Bernie Moreno has an A.
Ohio’s senate race is a priority for the cryptocurrency industry. As our Andrew Tobias recently reported, a crypto-linked super PAC has spent $23 million on ads boosting Moreno’s candidacy.
Last month, Stand with Crypto hosted an “America Loves Crypto” tour across several swing states. Coinbase held a town hall in Cleveland last year and gave Mayor Justin Bibb a speaking slot.
Stand with Crypto did not answer a list of questions sent to a generic email address for the organization.
Battling book bans
Cleveland has deep roots in the campaign against the rise of book bans across the country. Those roots were on display this week at a one-day conference about the topic held at Cleveland State University’s law school.
The driving force behind the event was Freedom to Learn Advocates, a nonprofit helping libraries, individuals and publishers fight book bans. FTLA was founded by CSU law school grads Steve and Loree Potash, who started the Garfield Heights-based OverDrive, the company behind Libby and other apps that let people borrow and download e-books and other materials from libraries.
Steve Potash set the tone for the event by calling the list of speakers – which included the author of a banned book, a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging a Texas book ban, legal scholars and grassroots activists – the real “Justice League of America.” Potash argued that the rise of bans has been driven by culture warriors and that the consequences of bans are profound.
Referring to a Florida case, he noted that one book publisher seeking state approval produced an edition of a history book that minimized references to race in a lesson about civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
“How do you learn about the story of Rosa Parks without mentioning her race?” Potash asked rhetorically.
He said book and curriculum challenges are happening “under the false banner of the protection of minors.” He said that bans are not fueled by grassroots movements but by coordinated national efforts. And he warned that Ohio’s education materials are not immune to such attacks from state lawmakers.
