The Crypto Industry Could Decide the Fate of the Senate

The cryptocurrency industry has rapidly become a behemoth in the 2024 election cycle, with a trio of its super PACs spending more than any other outside group besides the two major super PACs supporting the Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns. The crypto PACs are backing a blend of Republican and Democratic candidates that are seen as friendly to protecting the industry against stricter regulation.

The crypto industry-funded super PACs, led by Fairshake, have now spent $120 million on independent expenditures in U.S. House and Senate races, according to Federal Election Commission data. Fairshake’s two affiliates are the Democratic-focused Protect Progress and the Republican-focused Defend American Jobs.

The Fairshake ad barrage has been funded by donations of around $86 million from leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, $45 million from crypto payments project Ripple, $44 million from the founders of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and $15 million from trading firm Jump Crypto, according to FEC data through August. The billionaire Winklevoss twins have donated close to $5 million to Fairshake, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has given $1 million, among others.

The three crypto super PACs had a hefty $85.5 million cash on hand as of the end of August, according to their FEC filings.

Fairshake’s website says it supports candidates committed to “Providing blockchain innovators the ability to develop their networks under a clearer regulatory and legal framework” and features news articles touting its “colossal war chest.” 

The crypto groups have spent in almost four dozen federal races this election cycle, FEC records show. With about five weeks to go before Election Day, their untrammeled spending hovers over key races that will determine control of Congress next year. 

By far their top target has been the critical Senate race in Ohio, where they are backing Republican Bernie Moreno, a crypto industry cheerleader, against Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D), who has endorsed stronger government regulation of crypto assets to protect consumers.

In backing Moreno, the Fairshake-funded Defend American Jobs super PAC has spent $40.1 million, virtually all of the expenditures for media production and ad buys made from Aug. 13 to Sept. 12—an average of over $1.1 million a day supporting the Republican businessman. Looking at the 2024 Senate map, if West Virginia elects Republican Gov. Jim Justice to replace retiring Sen. Joe Manchin, a net gain of one other Democratic-held seat would hand control of the chamber back to Republicans.

In early 2022, Brown said in committee, before the industry’s Super Bowl ad blitz, “Big crypto companies are looking to make big profits. They are desperate to reach as many Americans as they can… They didn’t mention the fraud, the scams, and the outright theft. The ads didn’t point out that you can lose big and crypto’s huge price swings. They didn’t tell you about the high fees pocketed by the crypto companies. They sure didn’t explain that the crypto markets lack basic investor protections and oversight.”