$263 Million Political "War Chest" Deployed as Crypto Industry Ramps Up for U.S. Midterm Elections
Original Title: Crypto's Political Machine Amasses $263 Million to Rival Big Oil
Original Authors: Annie Massa, Olga Kharif, David Pan, Bloomberg
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
Following its success in the 2024 U.S. election, the crypto industry is ramping up its efforts for the 2026 midterm elections.
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings and public statements, some Super Political Action Committees (SPACs) focused on cryptocurrency are raising approximately $263 million in funding. According to OpenSecrets data, this amount is nearly double the largest SPAC investment in Fairshake2024 and slightly higher than the total spending of the entire oil and gas industry in the previous election cycle.
Following the significant investment by the crypto industry in 2024, with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, lawmakers passed multiple bills supported by the crypto industry and appointed regulation-friendly officials to key positions. This influence was evident again last week as former President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao Changpeng, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who had previously admitted to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and had been sentenced to four months in prison during the Biden administration.
The legislative victories and the Trump family's embrace of cryptocurrency have led some newly formed SPACs to depart from their previous strategies, more explicitly supporting the Republican Party to help solidify its control of Congress.
The crypto industry is also using political donations to advance a series of legislative and regulatory priorities, with the recent key focus being the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act. This act would comprehensively reform the digital asset regulatory framework and could give the more crypto-friendly Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) greater authority over the crypto industry.

Midterm Election Budgets for Each SPAC
To advance the legislation, around a dozen top executives from the crypto industry traveled to Washington last week. Despite the ongoing government shutdown-related negotiations, they met with a group of Republican senior senators for over an hour and had longer meetings with Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
「The industry has successfully laid out a roadmap for 2024, proving that whether you are an industry CEO or an average user, cryptocurrency has a voice and can influence elections," said Cody Cabo, CEO of the Washington lobbying group The Digital Chamber. "There will be more participants joining in the future, and the amount of funding involved will also increase."
Cryptocurrency companies and executives have supported policymakers and Trump's projects in various ways. Some cryptocurrency companies have engaged in commercial transactions with Trump family's cryptocurrency businesses, while others have made donations for the January inauguration and June parade. In addition, several companies are supporting the funding of a new $300 million White House banquet hall. According to the White House, this includes the U.S. branches of Coinbase, Ripple, and stablecoin giant Tether."

U.S. President Donald Trump displaying a model of the planned triumphal arch at a dinner with corporate executives, focusing on the promotion of the new White House banquet hall construction project
Outside the White House, SPACs are also a focus of congressional attention, as they have the power to shape industry-related legislation.
According to public statements and FEC data, Fairshake remains the largest-scale crypto SPAC, holding $141 million in funds as of the end of June. OpenSecrets data shows that the organization invested over $133 million in supporting crypto-friendly candidates in 2024, making it one of the highest-spending organizations on a single-issue in the last election cycle. Its supporters include leading U.S. crypto companies such as Coinbase, Ripple, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
In 2024, Fairshake and its two affiliated groups sought to establish crypto-friendly policies as a bipartisan issue. For example, the organization each invested around $10 million in Democratic candidates Elissa Slotkin and Ruben Gallego to help them win Senate seats in Michigan and Arizona, respectively. These two lawmakers are among the 18 Democratic senators who voted in favor of the "GENIUS Act," which paved the way for the wider adoption of stablecoins favored by the crypto industry into the financial system.
However, even in 2024, most of Fairshake's funding in the general election phase was still used to support Republicans, including spending $40 million to successfully defeat then-Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown.

In November 2024, Senate candidate Elisa Slotkin delivered a speech to supporters at an election night event in Detroit
This time, there are more SPACs, some of which have taken a clearer stance aligning with Republican candidates.
The cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial, co-founded by the Trump family and Presidential emissary Steve Witkoff's family, announced last month its support for the Digital Freedom Fund SPAC. The PAC was established in August by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, who stated in a platform declaration that they would donate 21 million dollars' worth of Bitcoin to support advocates of President Trump's crypto agenda in the primary and midterm elections. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the organization plans to target Sherrod Brown, who is actively seeking to return to the Senate.

In July, Gemini co-founders Cameron Winklevoss (left) and Tyler Winklevoss (right) talk with President Donald Trump at the White House signing ceremony of the "GENIUS Act"
Another newly formed group is the First Principles Digital PAC, which describes itself as a "Republican-led, GOP-focused institution dedicated to electing pro-crypto leaders." Led by Republican strategist Jason Tillman, it was established post the 2024 elections, with FEC filings showing a cash reserve of approximately $954,100 as of the end of June. The organization has already supported Mike Rogers, who will be running for a Michigan Senate seat in 2026.
Recently, the Fellowship PAC announced its establishment in September and pledged to donate $100 million. While the donors have not been publicly disclosed, preliminary filings indicate the Chief Financial Officer is an executive from the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald—formerly led by Trump administration Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Representatives of Digital Freedom Fund, Fellowship, Fairshake, and First Principles Digital PAC have not commented on this matter.
The biggest variable is Tether. The stablecoin company based in El Salvador has close ties to Cantor Fitzgerald, with supporters of the Fellowship PAC expecting a recent U.S.-based entity formation of Tether, as reported by The New York Times.
In August this year, Tether announced it would launch a U.S.-based product and hired former core crypto policy advisor to Trump, Bo Heins, to lead the effort.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in an interview last week that the company is in talks with several PACs. Foreign firms are prohibited from donating to SPACs, and Tether's new U.S. presence may make it eligible for donations.

On October 2, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino spoke at the Token2049 conference in Singapore.
Facing a funding surge from the crypto industry, the Democratic side is growing increasingly concerned.
Eric Baller-Baufer, who previously worked for Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton's campaign teams, serves as the Executive Director of the newly formed group Open Frontier, which aims to align more progressive voices with the crypto industry.
"Many in my camp are still trying to understand this industry," Baller-Baufer said. "There isn't a reliable spokesperson right now, and the trust in the crypto industry has been severely damaged."
During a meeting last week where crypto executives met with lawmakers in Washington, the partisan divide was evident. Sergey Nazarov, Co-founder of Chainlink Labs, who attended the meeting, mentioned that Republicans, including Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott from South Carolina, expressed alignment with the industry's priorities. On the other hand, Democrats raised sharp questions about the use of cryptocurrency in money laundering and decentralized finance.
"I don't think Democrats fully understand our industry yet; they are concerned about illicit finance issues," Nazarov said.
Some also point out that the industry's significant funding and newly gained political influence are forcing at least some Democrats to reassess their positions. Even Brown, who had a previously tough stance, has moderated his critical comments.
“Cryptocurrency has become a part of the U.S. economy, increasingly popular in Ohio and nationwide,” Brown's campaign manager Patrick Eisenhauer said in a statement. As more people adopt digital assets, Brown hopes to ensure “it can expand opportunities, improve the quality of life for Ohioans, and not expose them to risk.”

In 2024, Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio Senate campaign
The demands of crypto industry executives go beyond the Republican desire to pass a market structure bill before the midterm elections and include adjustments to cryptocurrency tax policies, anti-money laundering and sanctions-related rules, and a regulatory framework for decentralized exchanges.
Some donors are also focusing on state and local elections, such as the New York City mayoral race. Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce donated over $1 million to groups supporting him just days before Eric Adams dropped out of the race.
For Nazarov of Chainlink Labs, there is a common thread in meetings with political figures. “They realize the enormous economic value of this industry, so they must be clear on how to respond,” he said. “The industry will continue to grow, and they need to develop the right response strategies.”
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