The largest single-issue super PAC network in U.S. history is investing millions of dollars in congressional campaigns across the country.
According to data from Public Citizens ( Public Citizen ), during this electoral cycle, cryptocurrency-related groups have surpassed online gambling and data center development groups in terms of federal corporate political spending. Cryptocurrency-related organizations have donated over $200 million during this electoral cycle.
The industry hopes to replicate the success of 2024. Back then, super political action committees spent $250 million to help elect lawmakers supportive of crypto and to reshape Congress.
Encryption industry giant Fairshake and its affiliated super political action committee are supporting 33 House of Representatives candidates, including 19 Republicans and 14 Democrats, who are regarded as key supporters of priorities in this industry.
The network is prioritizing six current members of the House of Representatives, investing at least one million dollars in their campaign efforts. Among the Republicans are Bryan Steil from Wisconsin, who leads a subcommittee on digital assets in the House; as well as French Hill from Arkansas and Bill Huizenga from Michigan, who serve as the chairman and vice-chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, respectively. Democratic members that have received at least one million dollars in support from Fairshake include Representative Janelle Bynum from Oregon, Representative Derek Tran from California, and Representative Steven Horsford from Nevada.
The spending offensive of Fairshake was driven by companies related to digital assets, such as the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global.
According to the data from OpenSecrets, Coinbase has become one of the largest corporate political donors in modern history during the 2024 electoral cycle, contributing $79 million to federal campaigns. This includes a donation of $1 million made by the CEO Brian Armstrong to Fairshake in 2023.
According to this Super Political Action Committee, Coinbase donated 25 million dollars to Fairshake's midterm election campaign in 2025.
Coinbase, the Vice Chairman, said to CNBC, "The ultimate goal is to ensure that we bring the financial system of the 20th century into the 21st century."
He said, "In an era when American voters are most concerned about affordability, we need to find ways to make capital flows cheaper, investments easier, and transactions faster. Fundamentally speaking, this should not be something that Democrats or Republicans oppose."
As the current Congress pushes to pass landmark crypto legislation, the industry has encountered resistance. In September, a bipartisan bill on the regulatory framework for the digital asset market, known as "Clarity Act," stalled in the Senate because Democrats felt that it did not do enough to prevent high-ranking government officials from profiting from crypto projects.
The deadlock over ethical issues occurs at a time when American public is becoming increasingly pessimistic about government corruption. A poll released by Gallup in September showed that a record 89% of American adults believe that government corruption is widespread.
Changes in voters' priorities have also created obstacles to legislative efforts in the crypto industry. The latest nationwide economic survey this month by CNBC shows that only 20% of respondents consider the economic situation to be "excellent" or "good," down from 27% in July.
Nevada Democratic Representative Steven Horsford said, "By far, the core issue at present is the affordability crisis." He is one of three Democratic candidates who have received over $1 million in support from Fairshake.
Horsford proposed a bipartisan bill in May aimed at modernizing federal tax laws regarding digital assets. He stated that, aside from economic uncertainties, cryptocurrencies remain a topic of concern for some voters.
He said, "At city hall meetings and community meetings, as well as in the forums I participate in, this topic is indeed brought up, especially by small businesses that wish to use digital assets and Bitcoin."
"Consumers are increasingly asking them whether they accept these payment methods to provide goods and services," he said.
Influence Test
The elections in November will test the continued influence of the crypto industry in Washington.
The crypto industry is paying close attention to the Senate race in Ohio: The Democratic nominee, former Senator Sherrod Brown, is someone who has long criticized cryptocurrencies; the Republican, Jon Husted, supports cryptocurrencies and currently holds this seat.
In 2024, Fairshake spent approximately $40 million in an attempt to defeat Brown. At that time, Brown was still the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and had pushed for stricter crypto regulations, as well as shelved a market structure bill that had already been passed by the House of Representatives. In this electoral cycle, this super political action committee informed CNBC that they had spent $55 million opposing Brown.
A poll conducted from October 15th to 18th by Marist showed that Brown led Husted by 4 percentage points among all potential voters in the state, within a margin of error of 4.5%.
The executive director of the initiative organization Stand With Crypto, Mason Lynaugh, stated: "Many of these electoral campaigns are going to be very close." The organization was launched by Coinbase in 2023.
In this electoral cycle, Stand With Crypto supported a total of 45 candidates, including 42 for the House of Representatives and 3 for the Senate.
Lynaugh told CNBC that one of the reasons why the organization supports these candidates is their legislative record.
He said, "We want to make it clear that when we carry out our project and mobilize thousands, even tens of thousands of Stand With Crypto supporters in these constituencies, we can indeed enable those who support crypto to receive the rewards they deserve from the communities that support them."
Is it worth spending the money?
According to the data from OpenSecrets, in the last round of elections, the digital assets and infrastructure company Ripple received a total donation of 63.65 million US dollars at the federal level, and now the company is investing several million dollars again. According to Fairshake, Ripple donated 25 million US dollars in 2025.
When asked whether the crypto industry has achieved good investment returns, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, Stu Alderoty, told CNBC: "I think, compared to two years ago, the position of this industry today is such that the answer is yes, and I would say that it is a very good return."
Alderoty mentioned GENIUS Act, which established the first federal framework for stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. US President Donald Trump signed this bill into law in July 2025, making it the first independent crypto legislation in the United States.
Alderoty pointed out that the industry has obtained clearer regulations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He also mentioned the progress made by the Federal Reserve (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), and stated that Ripple has received the final approval from OCC this week, allowing the establishment of Ripple National Trust Bank, which is a federally regulated national trust bank.
However, the latest guidelines issued by these institutions do not mean that they can replace congressional legislation, and the window of opportunity for the crypto industry to push for the passage of new laws may be closing.
Former Governor of New York State and current member of the board of directors of the cryptocurrency exchange OKX, Andrew Cuomo, stated to CNBC that if Congress is reorganized in January, the legislative prospects are not optimistic.
He said, "You will be facing a Congress controlled by the Democrats, which will oversee a Trump administration. Moreover, regulatory agencies are making decisions under the scrutiny of a hostile Congress. This is not a good situation, as it will lead to a deadlock between Congress and the government."
Nevada State Representative Horsford told CNBC that time is of the essence.
He said, "Every stakeholder needs to remain at the negotiating table and continue to explain why legislation is necessary."
If the Clarity Act cannot be advanced by the end of the year, Congress will have to start drafting a new digital asset market structure bill from scratch. Meanwhile, the crypto super political action committee hopes that their spending can still influence which members of Congress will lead the next round of legislation.
VanGrack, who formerly served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, stated to CNBC: "Regardless of who is elected as a member of Congress, we will continue to see more clarity in regulation in this area."
"Whether we will ultimately be able to cross the finish line completely is still in question; however, there is no doubt that we will continue to make progress and move forward in terms of the clarity of crypto regulation," VanGrack added.
—— CNBC's Luke Fountain contributed to this report
