The watchdog group Public Citizen said crypto was the largest corporate spender in federal races in 2026. Crypto firms led corporate political spending at that point, citing the same watchdog’s analysis.
Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz are the primary financiers. Industry strategists and campaign staff said the money is a calling card meant to build relationships with elected officials.
Crypto’s long game in Congress
Colin McLaren, head of government relations at the Solana Policy Institute, which has given $4.9 million to the midterms, called it “an investment in the future,” per Reuters.
The approach reflects a sharp change. In 2018, lawmakers could not secure a room in the House or Senate office buildings for the first bipartisan crypto roundtable, so they met at the Library of Congress. Then, under the Biden administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission levied more than $6 billion in penalties across 98 cases, according to a Georgetown University Law study.
Executives concluded they needed political force. Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad helped launch Stand With Crypto and Fairshake in 2023. The number of lawmakers rated “A” by Stand With Crypto rose to 332 from 96 when the group launched.
Legislation followed. The GENIUS Act, enacted in 2025 with broad bipartisan support, created the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. The industry’s next goal, the Clarity Act, would place oversight under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That bill stalled this session. Senate Democrats blocked it from reaching a final vote over an ethics provision that would have forced the Trump family to sell its crypto holdings.
Fairshake helped defeat Sherrod Brown, who chaired the Senate Banking Committee, in 2024, and the industry has since spent more than $68 million on his rematch against Republican Jon Husted, according to AdImpact.
Fairshake’s ads against Brown do not mention crypto, and Brown’s campaign manager, Patrick Eisenhauer, said “the special interests are panicking.” In Illinois, Fairshake spent over $10.1 million attacking Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and $2.5 million against state Representative La Shawn Ford, per Reuters, yet both are expected to win on November 3.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each gave about $13 million this cycle, most of it to MAGA Inc.
What voters think
Public attitudes are mixed. A September survey seen by Bitcoin Magazine of 1,545 U.S. adults by Ipsos for the DeFi Education Fund found that 22% have owned or used crypto, up from 18% in 2025. Only 19% believe the U.S. financial system is secure.
The survey also found 35% say it is important for candidates to support building the next generation of financial technology in the United States. Only 13% said the same when the question named blockchain, crypto or DeFi. The DeFi Education Fund is a digital asset advocacy group, so its framing reflects that perspective.
Stand With Crypto’s leadership has argued that the crypto vote will decide the midterms.
This post Crypto Midterm Election Spending Reaches $176 Million as Industry Builds for the Next Congress first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.