As the US midterm elections loom less than a month away, political action committees affiliated with Fairshake—the dominant cryptocurrency political action committee funded heavily by contributions from major digital asset firms including investment banking giant Cantor Fitzgerald, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and Ripple Labs—have reported millions of dollars in fresh media expenditures. The strategic financial maneuvers are aimed squarely at supporting congressional candidates deemed favorable to pro-digital asset policies in Washington.
Newly released filings submitted to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Saturday revealed a combined $2.7 million in media spending orchestrated by the Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress PACs. These two prominent Fairshake affiliates reported that the capital was deployed for media placements and direct mail productions designed to bolster both Democratic and Republican candidates vying for seats in the US House of Representatives ahead of the 2026 elections.
The detailed expenditure reports highlighted significant financial investments directed toward key legislative figures. Among the targeted distributions were more than $76,000 allocated for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, approximately $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, a substantial $512,000 for California Representative Pete Aguilar, and a matching $500,000 for New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer.
These latest FEC disclosures follow closely on the heels of a major announcement from Fairshake just days earlier, in which the PAC outlined plans to endorse an additional 32 House candidates for the 2026 electoral cycle. This broader rollout includes a commitment to direct $1 million each in supportive media campaigns toward six specific candidates. Notably, none of the six primary recipients of that specific seven-figure backing were listed in the immediate Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress expenditure batch filed over the weekend. However, several influential congressional incumbents did appear across both initiatives, including Emmer, Aguilar, Gottheimer, and Thompson.
The heavy financial outlays underscore a broader, highly aggressive political strategy being executed by the digital asset industry. As of August, representatives for Fairshake confirmed that the PAC was sitting on a massive war chest featuring $122 million in cash on hand. This capital is the backbone of a comprehensive midterm election blueprint explicitly designed to secure a larger contingent of "pro-crypto" lawmakers in Congress.
This multi-pronged strategy has also manifested in aggressive opposition campaigns. Most notably, Fairshake has targeted the Senate race in Ohio, allocating at least $30 million toward media buys intended to oppose the election of former banking committee chair Sherrod Brown. During his tenure in office, Brown established himself as one of the most prominent Democratic lawmakers consistently voting against legislative proposals viewed as favorable to the burgeoning cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
Crypto market structure bill to be a factor in 2026 midterms?
A unifying thread connecting the primary congressional targets of Fairshake’s recent spending spree is their legislative record. Specifically, all the lawmakers targeted by the PAC’s latest media expenditures voted in favor of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in 2025. The landmark piece of legislation was crafted to establish comprehensive market structure rules for the entire cryptocurrency industry, including granting expanded oversight and enforcement authority to the federal commodities regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
While the legislation successfully cleared the House of Representatives with notable bipartisan support, it ultimately hit a roadblock when it failed to pass a critical procedural vote in the Senate last September, leaving comprehensive federal regulatory reform in limbo.
In the wake of that legislative setback, advocacy groups within the digital asset ecosystem have sought to hold lawmakers accountable. Stand With Crypto, a grassroots political initiative originally launched by Coinbase that systematically ranks lawmakers and politicians based on their public statements and voting records regarding the industry, issued sharp warnings following the failed CLARITY Act vote. The group cautioned that legislators who failed to advance the critical market structure legislation could face tangible political consequences at the ballot box during the midterms.
Stand With Crypto has been actively working to mobilize crypto-minded and digital asset-focused US voters for the upcoming election cycle, mirroring the coordinated mobilization efforts the group successfully deployed during the 2024 congressional and presidential races. As the countdown to the midterms continues, the intersection of blockchain advocacy, millions in PAC spending, and legislative scorecards is shaping up to be a defining dynamic of the electoral landscape.
