Crypto PACs report $2.7M spending blitz on House races as midterms loom

Affiliate entities of Fairshake, the US political action committee (PAC) funded largely by contributions from investment banking company Cantor Fitzgerald, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Ripple Labs, reported millions of dollars worth of ad buys to support candidates they considered in favor of pro-digital asset policy with the country’s midterm elections less than a month away.

On Saturday, filings with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) showed a combined $2.7 million in spending on media by the Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress PACs. The two Fairshake affiliates reported expenditures on media and direct mail productions to support Democratic and Republican candidates running for US House of Representatives seats in 2026.

The expenditures included more than $76,000 for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, $512,000 for California Representative Pete Aguilar and $500,000 for New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer. 

The FEC reports followed Fairshake announcing just days earlier that it planned to endorse an additional 32 House candidates in 2026, including six to each receive $1 million in supportive media. None of the aforementioned six were included in the Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress expenditures, but some incumbents were on the list, including Emmer, Aguilar, Gottheimer, and Thompson.

As of August, a Fairshake spokesperson said the PAC had $122 million in cash on hand as part of its midterm election strategy of attempting to get more “pro-crypto” candidates in Congress. This strategy includes opposing the election of former banking committee chair Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s Senate race with at least $30 million allocated for media buys. While in office, Brown was one of the leading Democrats voting against many bills considered favorable to the crypto industry.

Related: Vivek Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial run lacks the crypto rhetoric of his presidential bid

Crypto market structure bill to be a factor in 2026 midterms?

All the targets of the Fairshake spending voted for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in 2025, a bill intended to set market structure rules for the cryptocurrency industry, including giving the federal commodities regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, more authority to oversee and enforce regulations. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support but failed to pass a procedural vote in the Senate in September.

Stand With Crypto, an initiative launched by Coinbase that ranks lawmakers and politicians based on their public statements and voting records related to the industry, warned after the failed CLARITY vote that candidates who failed to advance legislation could face “consequences” in the midterms. The group is attempting to mobilize crypto-minded US voters in the upcoming election, as it did in 2024 races.

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