US Crypto Industry Pours $170 Million Into Midterms, With Spending Focused on Republicans

The US crypto industry concentrated its campaign spending on Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections.

CoinDesk reported on November 1 that three major political action committees, or PACs, tied to the crypto industry have poured about $170 million into this year’s midterms. The groups spent more backing Republicans than Democrats, with a particular focus on pro-crypto Republican candidates in Senate races.

Fairshake, the industry’s largest PAC, and its affiliated groups spent about $154 million on the election. Fairshake is backed by Coinbase, Ripple Labs and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z. It has also secured about $56 million for the next election cycle.

Fairshake spent about $56 million in Ohio’s Senate race to block a comeback by former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. That amounted to more than one-third of its total election spending. In Nebraska, it spent about $11 million to support incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

The Digital Freedom Fund, backed primarily by the Winklevoss twins, also deployed more than $8 million this month to oppose Democratic candidates in Senate races in Ohio, Texas and Iowa. The Fellowship Fund, financed by Cantor Fitzgerald and closely tied to Tether, gave $3.8 million to Republican candidates and later allocated another $600,000 to three incumbent Democratic lawmakers.

Fairshake, however, says it supports candidates based on crypto policy rather than party affiliation. “We support pro-crypto candidates in both parties who back American innovation,” Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto said. He added that the group would continue its bipartisan political activity.

With opinion polls ahead of the US midterm elections pointing to a possible expansion of Democratic seats in Congress, the crypto industry’s Republican-leaning campaign spending is drawing attention for how it could shape future legislative strategy. In particular, the CLARITY Act, which addresses crypto market-structure regulation, failed to make progress in the legislative process this year. Moving the bill forward will require bipartisan cooperation to secure the 60 votes typically needed in the Senate, the report said.