The largest single-issue super PAC group in U.S. history is pouring millions of dollars into congressional races across the country.
According to Public Citizen, crypto groups outpaced online gambling and data center development groups in federal corporate political spending this election cycle. Cryptocurrency-related organizations have donated more than $200 million this election cycle.
The industry hopes to repeat its success in 2024, when super PACs spent $250 million to elect pro-crypto members and reorganize Congress.
Crypto industry giant FairShake and its affiliated super PAC are backing 33 House candidates (19 Republicans and 14 Democrats) seen as key supporters of industry priorities.
The network is prioritizing six incumbent House members by committing a baseline $1 million to their campaigns. Republican Brian Still of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Digital Assets Subcommittee, and French Hill of Arkansas and Bill Huizenga of Michigan, chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the House Financial Services Committee. Democratic lawmakers who have received at least $1 million from FairShake include Oregon Rep. Janelle Bynum. Derek Tran of California. and Stephen Horsford of Nevada.
Fairshake spending is further fueled by digital asset-focused companies such as crypto exchanges coinbase global.
According to OpenSecrets, Coinbase contributed $79 million to federal elections in the 2024 election cycle, establishing itself as one of the largest corporate political donors in modern history. This includes $1 million that CEO Brian Armstrong personally donated to FairShake in 2023.
Coinbase has donated $25 million to FairShake’s 2025 mid-term efforts, according to the super PAC.
“The ultimate goal is to make sure we bring the 20th century financial system into the 21st century,” Coinbase Vice Chairman Ryan Vangrack told CNBC.
“At a time when affordability is a top priority for American voters, finding ways to move money more cheaply, invest it more easily, and transact faster is important, and fundamentally that’s not something that Democrats or Republicans should be against,” he said.
The industry faced a backlash in the current Congress as it urged lawmakers to pass landmark crypto legislation. In September, the Clarity Act, a bipartisan market structure rule for digital assets, stalled in the Senate as Democrats argued it did not go far enough to prevent government officials from profiting from crypto ventures.
Changing voter priorities
The impasse over ethics comes as Americans become increasingly pessimistic about government corruption. A Gallup poll released in September found that 89% of American adults say government corruption is widespread, a record high.
The changing priorities of voters are also creating headwinds for crypto legislative efforts. In this month’s latest CNBC National Economic Survey, only 20% of respondents rated the economy as “good” or “good,” down from 27% in July.
“Overwhelmingly, the issue right now is an affordability crisis,” said Rep. Stephen Horsford (D-Nev.), one of three Democratic candidates to whom FairShake has donated more than $1 million.
Horsford, who introduced a bipartisan bill in May to modernize the federal tax code for digital assets, said cryptocurrencies, along with economic uncertainty, remain top of mind for some voters.
“This issue always comes up at town halls, community meetings, and forums I host, especially small and medium-sized businesses that are considering using digital assets and Bitcoin,” Horsford said. “Increasingly, consumers are asking if they want to be paid for a service or product.”
Testing influence
The November election will test the continued influence cryptocurrencies have in Washington.
The crypto industry is keeping an eye on the Ohio Senate race between Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, a former senator and longtime crypto critic, and Republican Jon Husted, a cryptocurrency advocate who currently holds the seat.
FairShake spent about $40 million trying to unseat Mr. Brown in 2024, when Mr. Brown, then chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, pushed for tighter crypto regulation and stalled market structure legislation passed by the House of Representatives. A super PAC told CNBC it has already spent $55 million to fight against Brown this term.
A Marist poll conducted Oct. 15-18 showed Mr. Brown leading Mr. Husted by 4 points among likely voters statewide, within a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
“Many of these races are going to be very close,” said Mason Lynault, executive director of Stand with Crypto, an advocacy group launched by Coinbase in 2023.
This election cycle, Stand With Crypto has endorsed 45 candidates, 42 for the House of Representatives and 3 for the Senate.
Rinow told CNBC that one of the reasons the group supports candidates is because of their legislative history.
“As we run our programs and produce thousands and tens of thousands of Stand With Crypto supporters in these districts, we want to show that we are making sure that they get what they deserve from supporting cryptocurrencies, from the communities that support them,” he added.
Was the money well spent?
Digital asset and infrastructure company Ripple spent a total of $63.65 million in federal donations in the last election, according to OpenSecrets, and the company is now spending millions again. According to FairShake, Ripple donated $25 million in 2025.
“If you compare the industry two years ago to the industry today, I would say, yes, it’s a very good return,” Stu Alderotti, Ripple’s chief legal officer, told CNBC when asked if the crypto industry has seen a good return on its investments.
Alderoti pointed to the GENIUS Act, which established the first federal framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins. President Trump signed this bill into law in July 2025, making it the first stand-alone cryptocurrency bill in the United States.
Alderoti noted that the industry is getting clearer rules from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He also pointed to industry progress by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, noting that Ripple this week received final approval from the OCC to form Ripple National Trust Bank, a federally supervised national trust bank.
However, the latest guidelines from these agencies do not replace Congressional legislation, and the window for passing new laws regarding cryptocurrencies may be closing.
Andrew Cuomo, a former New York governor and current director of cryptocurrency exchange OKX, told CNBC that the legislation likely won’t be possible if Congress changes in January.
“You’re going to have a Democratic Congress overseeing the Trump administration, where regulators are making decisions under the scrutiny of a hostile Congress, and Congress is at odds with the administration, so that’s not a good place to be,” he said.
Horsford, the Nevada congressman, told CNBC that time is of the essence.
“We need all stakeholders to be at the table and continue to advocate why we need the law,” he said.
If no progress is made on the Transparency Act by the end of the year, Congress will have to start from scratch with a new market structure bill for digital assets. And crypto super PACs hope their spending still has influence in shaping the lawmakers working on the next bill.
“Regulatory clarity in this area is going to continue regardless of who is elected to Congress,” Coinbase’s Van Gluck, a former SEC senior adviser, told CNBC.
“While it may be an open question whether we will cross the finish line completely, it is not an open question whether progress has been made and will continue to be made in terms of clarity in the regulation of cryptocurrencies,” Wangrak added.
—CNBC’s Luke Fountain contributed to this report.
