Crypto drops $176M on US midterms while its big Senate bill sits stuck

Crypto's political machine is running hot. The industry has pumped about $176 million into more than 100 US congressional races ahead of the November 3 midterms, according to a Reuters investigation. That's real money aimed at shaping who writes the rules for digital assets.

Fairshake and its affiliated political committees accounted for roughly $150.8 million of that total through October 20, Reuters found. Other crypto groups kicked in another $25 million. Coinbase, Ripple and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz rank among the most prominent backers of the push.

The spending spree hasn't bought the industry the one thing it wants most: federal law. The CLARITY Act, which would set clear rules for exchanges, digital commodities and the split of authority between the SEC and CFTC, stalled in the Senate on September 15. Lawmakers rejected a procedural motion 49-50, short of the 60 votes needed to move forward. That wasn't a final vote on the bill itself, but it stopped debate cold, with fights over ethics provisions, financial safeguards and regulatory oversight already gumming up bipartisan talks.

The Ohio Senate race shows how loud crypto's wallet can get. Crypto-linked political groups have spent more than $68 million in the contest between Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Jon Husted, per Reuters. Earlier, Protect Progress — a Fairshake affiliate — committed $1.5 million to oppose Texas Representative Al Green over his stance on crypto legislation.

Fairshake has thrown cash at candidates from both parties, though its priciest Senate plays have backed Republicans or worked against Democrats. The super PAC says 53 of the 58 candidates it supported in 2026 primaries and special elections won. It spent about $196 million during the 2024 cycle, so this year's haul is a step up in ambition if not in grand total.

The stakes stretch well beyond November. Ripple in particular has spent years chasing regulatory certainty after its long SEC court fight, and the industry wants durable legislation rather than agency rules that could flip with the next administration. Regulators aren't waiting: the SEC keeps building alternative frameworks without Congress. Campaign-finance watchdogs, meanwhile, argue that spending at this scale can distort elections and hand industries outsized sway over the policy that governs them.