Crypto spent $233M on politics, then Democrats took Congress

Crypto's checkbook stayed open even as its Washington hopes dimmed. Companies in the industry sent $233 million to political committees through Oct. 23 in the 2026 election cycle, per tokenpost.com, a tally that counts contributions of at least $5,000 to super PACs and hybrid PACs. It doesn't capture what those committees actually spent on candidates or races.

Fairshake hauled in the biggest corporate share at $106.9 million, while Ripple Labs wrote checks totaling $49.6 million. The $233 million figure reflects a later reporting cutoff than an earlier count that put the number at $206 million.

The spending didn't buy the outcome the industry wanted. Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in the Nov. 3 midterms, leaving the CLARITY Act parked in the Senate. The House had already passed H.R. 3633 on July 17, 2025, by a 294-134 margin.

The Senate stumble came Sept. 15, when a motion to advance the bill failed 49-50 — a vote that did not decide final passage. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and six Democratic colleagues responded Sept. 16, saying, “This week was a setback, but not the end of that important work.”

Not everyone in the party is rushing back to the table. Sen. Adam Schiff said the bill's ethics provisions “do not meet the mark,” signaling the fight over the legislation's details is far from settled.