Florida Candidate Liquidates $800K in Bitcoin to Bankroll Congressional Bid

A Republican candidate jockeying to represent Florida’s 22nd Congressional District has liquidated a portion of his personal Bitcoin stash to bankroll his political bid, while striking a pro-crypto stance in a newly shaped battleground race.

Michael Carbonara, who established a digital banking and payments company called Ibanera in 2017, recently parted with 10 Bitcoin, exchanging the digital asset for $800,000 worth of Circle’s USDC stablecoin this month, a spokesperson told Decrypt.

The liquidation highlights how entrepreneurs connected to the crypto industry are leveraging personal fortunes to compete. Before redistricting developments reshaped the state’s congressional map weeks ago, Carbonara had narrowly outraised competitors.

That included Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), a representative of Florida’s 25th Congressional District, who supported the passage of stablecoin legislation last year. Before both candidates shifted their campaigns toward other seats, Carbonara and Schultz took in $2.52 million and $2.48 million, respectively, according to OpenSecrets.

Carbonara told Decrypt that he accepts crypto donations from outside supporters, and his campaign has diligently followed Federal Election Commission rules, following in the footsteps of politicians including President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Still, Carbonara argued that the status quo surrounding campaign finance is insufficient, and networks that support digital assets have the capacity to offer real-time transparency.

Similar positions have been taken by other candidates this election cycle, including Mark Moran, an independent Virginia Senate candidate who experimented with digital assets by embracing a meme coin as a political tool.

“South Florida should care [about digital assets], because the same technology that gets weaponized against legal businesses through political debanking can also be the tool that finally makes Washington spending visible in real time,” Carbonara said. “That’s a level of accountability career politicians never had to face.”

Although Carbonara is eager to gain support from digital-asset owners, FEC data shows that his war chest has been anchored by $2.3 million in personal loans—with his latest cryptocurrency liquidation marking the newest tranche of self-funding. Around $50,000 has come from individual contributions. He hasn’t received any special interest money yet.

Earlier this month, crypto political action committee Fairshake welcomed primary victories among six political candidates that it favored with $20 million in industry money. In a statement, Fairshake called the results “a clear victory for pro-crypto leaders.”

Beyond elections, Carbonara views blockchains as a way to improve clarity on behalf of the government when it comes to spending taxpayer money. Before he dropped his presidential bid in 2024, Kennedy came up with the same idea.

“Blockchain doesn’t hide inefficiency and fraud. It exposes them,” Carbonara said. “The opacity in politics today comes from the legacy financial system, not from the technology that’s threatening to replace it.”