By Lina Irawan 
As the United States inches closer to its upcoming midterm elections with less than a month remaining, major political action committees tied to the cryptocurrency industry are aggressively ramping up their financial footprint. Affiliate entities of Fairshake, the high-profile US political action committee funded primarily by heavyweights such as Andreessen Horowitz, crypto exchange Coinbase, and Ripple Labs, have reported millions of dollars in fresh media expenditures. These substantial ad buys are designed to support congressional candidates whom the industry considers firmly in favor of pro-digital asset policy.
Recent filings submitted to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) on a Saturday revealed a combined $2.7 million in media spending orchestrated by the Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress PACs. Both organizations operate as key affiliates under the broader Fairshake umbrella. According to the regulatory filings, these expenditures were directed toward media placements and direct mail productions intended to bolster the campaigns of both Democratic and Republican candidates running for seats in the US House of Representatives for the 2026 midterm cycle.
The newly disclosed financial outlays feature notable allocations to several prominent lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The spending included more than $76,000 dedicated to supporting House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, alongside roughly $73,000 allocated for House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson. Furthermore, the filings showed significant financial backing for Democratic lawmakers, including $512,000 directed toward California Representative Pete Aguilar and $500,000 for New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer.
These FEC disclosures arrived closely on the heels of a major announcement from Fairshake just days prior. The parent PAC revealed its strategic roadmap to endorse an additional 32 House candidates in the 2026 midterms. This ambitious expansion includes a commitment to provide six of those endorsed candidates with $1 million each in supportive media campaigns. Interestingly, while none of the specific six candidates slated for the million-dollar packages were included in the immediate Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress expenditure reports, several incumbent lawmakers appeared across both strategic initiatives, including Emmer, Aguilar, Gottheimer, and Thompson.
The sheer scale of financial firepower behind these digital asset-aligned PACs underscores a sustained, multi-million-dollar campaign strategy aimed at reshaping the legislative landscape in Washington. Back in August, a spokesperson for Fairshake reported that the PAC held an impressive $122 million in cash on hand. This formidable war chest serves as the foundation for the organization’s broader midterm election strategy, which focuses heavily on ensuring that more candidates sympathetic to the crypto economy secure seats in Congress.
This overarching strategy is not limited strictly to supporting favored candidates; it also involves actively opposing lawmakers viewed as hostile to the industry. A prime example of this defensive and targeted opposition is unfolding in Ohio’s high-stakes Senate race, where Fairshake has allocated at least $30 million for media buys aimed at opposing the election of former banking committee chair Sherrod Brown. During his tenure in office, Brown established himself as one of the most prominent Democratic voices voting consistently against legislative proposals viewed as favorable to the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors.
Crypto market structure bill to be a factor in 2026 midterms?
A central unifying factor among all the congressional targets receiving financial support from Fairshake’s recent spending is their legislative record. Every single lawmaker targeted by these media expenditures voted in favor of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in 2025. This critical piece of legislation was crafted to establish comprehensive market structure rules for the entire cryptocurrency industry. Among its primary provisions, the bill sought to grant the federal commodities regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, significantly more authority to oversee and enforce regulations within the rapidly evolving digital asset marketplace.
The CLARITY Act managed to successfully pass through the House of Representatives thanks to crucial bipartisan support. However, its legislative momentum stalled abruptly when it failed to pass a critical procedural vote in the Senate this past September. The defeat of the bill sent immediate ripples through the political and financial communities, prompting swift reactions from industry advocates who view legislative clarity as an absolute necessity for the growth and stability of the digital asset ecosystem in the United States.
In the wake of the failed Senate vote, Stand With Crypto—an advocacy initiative originally launched by Coinbase that ranks lawmakers and politicians based on their public statements and voting records regarding the industry—issued a stern warning. The group cautioned that lawmakers and political candidates who failed to advance essential crypto legislation could face tangible political "consequences" in the upcoming midterm elections. Stand With Crypto is actively working to mobilize crypto-minded voters across the United States for the approaching elections, mirroring the substantial voter engagement and mobilization efforts that the group successfully deployed during the 2024 electoral cycle.
Sagoh 
Basiran 
Nana Wu