NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - Coinbase launched on

Thursday a $2 million ad campaign targeted toward Latino voters

and consumers, the company told Reuters, as the crypto industry

makes moves this U.S. election cycle to put friendly lawmakers

into office.

The ad campaign comes on top of tens of millions of dollars

the crypto industry has already spent in U.S. elections this

year, targeting down-ballot races to defeat those pushing for

more regulation.

The new ad from Coinbase aims to promote crypto

alternatives to sending remittances, and features a young man

who sends money to his grandmother in Mexico.

Coinbase says that while the average fee rate to send money

overseas is 6.18%, it is free to send that money with USD Coin,

a digital stablecoin, on Coinbase Wallet.

The ad will run on Univision during the Copa America soccer

tournament on TV and digital with more investment in California

and Texas, the company said. It is also targeting Washington,

D.C.

"Our traditional financial system is not working for

communities of color, who experience disproportionate barriers

to wealth-building at every turn," said former Los Angeles Mayor

Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement linked to the ad campaign.

Fifty-nine percent of Mexican adults said they thought it

was likely that crypto would become a reliable form of payment,

versus 38% of U.S. adults, according to Morning Consult research

in 2023.

This is not the first time Coinbase, an online platform for

buying and selling crypto, has launched advocacy efforts. Last

August the company helped start Stand With Crypto, an

organization for voters who own cryptocurrencies.

Stand With Crypto saw its membership surpass 1 million in

June.

Gemini Trust Co founders and twin brothers Tyler and Cameron

Winklevoss said on Thursday that they both have donated $1

million in bitcoin to Republican candidate Donald Trump's White

House bid.

"Over the past few years, the Biden Administration has

openly declared war against crypto," Tyler Winklevoss wrote on

social media platform X. "It's time for the crypto army to send

a message to Washington."

The Biden administration did not immediately respond to

a request for comment.

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill

that aims to create a new legal framework for digital

currencies, despite an unusual warning from the U.S. securities

regulator it could create new financial risks.