By David Yaffe-Bellany
In a closely contested race for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, Republican candidate Bernie Moreno received a significant lift leading up to the election: $40 million from the cryptocurrency sector.
This funding supported advertisements that aired throughout Ohio and marked the most ambitious initiative in a bold multistate effort by crypto firms to sway numerous vital congressional elections. On Tuesday, Moreno, a dedicated supporter of cryptocurrencies, triumphed over Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and chair of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, who has advocated for stringent regulation of the crypto industry.
“The crypto army is mobilizing,” Tyler Winklevoss, a crypto leader, celebrated via social media. A representative from the primary crypto super political action committee highlighted the Ohio outcome in an email with the headline: “Crypto’s big wager pays off.”
The cryptocurrency sector viewed this year’s elections as a crucial juncture, investing tens of millions to support candidates who advocated for more lenient regulations on the industry. A super PAC named Fairshake, along with two connected organizations, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, collectively expended around $135 million, funded by donations from crypto companies such as Coinbase and Ripple, along with the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which has supported over 100 crypto startups.
According to experts, this initiative represented one of the most aggressive corporate fundraising sprees in contemporary political history. And it seems to have yielded significant returns.
A tracking system operated by Stand With Crypto, an industry organization that evaluates politicians, reported that on Tuesday, 253 pro-crypto candidates were elected to the House of Representatives, in contrast to 115 anti-crypto candidates. In the Senate, 16 pro-crypto candidates and 12 anti-crypto candidates emerged victorious, as noted by the tracker.
Fairshake and its affiliated groups directed funds into over 50 congressional contests that were decided on Tuesday. Besides Moreno, pro-crypto congressional candidates supported by the PACs emerged victorious in states such as Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, and others. As election results began to unfold on Tuesday night, Bitcoin’s price soared to a new peak of over $75,000.
“The key takeaway from last night is that crypto prevails,” asserted Paul Grewal, chief legal officer for Coinbase. “We now have the most pro-crypto Congress ever.”
None of the crypto PACs contributed to any presidential candidates. However, their financial involvement turned a previously niche set of issues into a prominent topic during the campaign, highlighting an industry often marred by fraud, scams, and consumer detriment.
For years, the Biden administration has pursued crypto entities for breaches of securities legislation. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end that crackdown and position the United States as “the crypto capital of the globe.” Once a vocal critic of crypto, he attended a Bitcoin convention in Nashville, Tennessee, this summer and even launched his own crypto venture.
The emergence of new pro-crypto representatives in Congress could create opportunities for the industry to enact legislation that would weaken the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal body that has aggressively pursued crypto companies in court. Moreover, lawmakers who weren’t on the ballot this year might be less inclined to oppose the industry’s interests after witnessing its fundraising clout.
This spending surge has raised concerns among groups combating the influence of money in politics. A report released this summer by the nonprofit organization Public Citizen claimed that the crypto sector’s expenditures were “corrupting our political process.”
“Crypto has emerged as a significant issue in the 2024 elections, primarily because crypto corporations have invested substantial sums,” stated Rick Claypool, a research director for Public Citizen. “Other industries will likely attempt to mimic this approach.”
The last time the crypto industry attempted to sway an election ended poorly. Prior to the 2022 midterms, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the crypto exchange FTX, acted as the industry’s leading representative in Washington, engaging with lawmakers and donating millions to candidates from both parties. Then FTX collapsed, leading to Bankman-Fried’s indictment on charges including campaign finance fraud. He is currently serving a 25-year prison term.
Following the downfall of FTX, the U.S. government initiated a broad enforcement action, suing major crypto companies, including Coinbase, for violations of federal securities regulations. Legislators who had once eagerly met with pro-crypto groups suddenly withdrew their support.
But the sector continued to advocate for its agenda in Washington, seeking to push through legislation that would reduce the SEC’s authority and establish a more favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrency firms.
A core component of this strategy was Fairshake.
Earlier this year, the super PAC allocated $10 million to attack ads against Katie Porter, a Democratic Senate candidate from California closely aligned with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is a well-known skeptic of cryptocurrencies.
Porter lost the primary in March, with Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who has “demonstrated support for crypto and digital assets,” claiming victory, according to Stand With Crypto.
As Election Day neared, Fairshake launched a spending spree in Senate and House elections nationwide, supporting candidates from both parties. Throughout the campaign, executives from the crypto industry received complaints from leaders of both parties who were frustrated that the super PAC was backing candidates on opposing sides, as reported by two sources familiar with the discussions.
The industry’s most ambitious objective was to defeat Brown. Moreno was an ideal pro-crypto candidate; he had established a crypto firm, Ownum, and secured an A rating from Stand With Crypto.
Conversely, Brown was a vocal opponent of cryptocurrencies, contending that digital currencies contributed to financing terrorism, and argued that the sector was riddled with “scams and spectacular failures.”
Defend American Jobs, a crypto PAC, expended $40,134,927 to support Moreno in a race that attracted hundreds of millions in contributions from external groups, as per OpenSecrets, which monitors political spending. Following Moreno’s victory on Tuesday, crypto executives celebrated, asserting their contributions played a significant role.
“Sherrod Brown was a leading adversary of cryptocurrency, and thanks to our endeavors, he will be departing the Senate,” Vlasto, the spokesperson for Fairshake, mentioned in a statement. “Senator-elect Moreno’s comeback win indicates that Ohio voters desire a leader who prioritizes innovation.”
The full extent of the industry’s achievement continued to materialize on Wednesday morning. The crypto PACs also pooled a total of $20 million in support of two Democratic Senate candidates: Elissa Slotkin in Michigan and Ruben Gallego in Arizona. As of Wednesday morning, neither of those races had been decided.
Nonetheless, the industry was already setting its sights on the future. This week, Fairshake revealed that it had secured over $78 million for expenditure in the 2026 midterms.
