The crypto industry aims to crush one of Democrats’ top Senate candidates
By THEODORE SCHLEIFER
The cryptocurrency industry, furious at Democrats for blocking the passage of a major business-friendly bill last week, is beginning to wage war on the party’s midterm candidates.
The industry’s main super political action committee, Fairshake, which is backed by some of the richest people in Silicon Valley, is starting to unspool a planned $30 million advertising campaign against former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat running again for the chamber, the group told The New York Times.
The push is by far the crypto industry’s most aggressive move yet in the midterms, and it could have significant implications for the Ohio Senate race, one of this year’s top contests for control of Congress. Fairshake spent $41 million on advertising in 2024 to target Brown, a progressive critic of the industry who was then the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. He lost, and many Republicans credit the crypto industry for helping them win.
Fairshake has cast itself as a bipartisan super PAC, and it supported some Democrats in the 2024 elections. But with Republicans in control of Washington, the industry has enjoyed a light regulatory touch and warm relations with party leaders. President Donald Trump has also pulled in more than $1.4 billion from his family’s crypto businesses in his first year back in office, raising a host of ethical concerns.
After Democrats last week blocked the Clarity Act, which would have shielded the crypto industry from a regulatory crackdown under a future Democratic administration, Fairshake’s overall spending in this year’s general election is expected to lean heavily toward Republicans.
The group said it would soon announce additional spending in both House and Senate races, in support of both Democrats and Republicans.
Fairshake is one of the most financially powerful interest groups in the midterms. Along with two affiliated groups, the super PAC has a war chest of $120.4 million, according to federal filings released Sunday. Both parties have been watching closely to see how much Fairshake spends on the November elections.
Fairshake has considered simply rolling over much of its remaining funds into the 2028 election cycle. But after the industry’s top priority went up in flames, the super PAC is set to unleash significant spending.
Brown, who could return to a perch on the Senate Banking Committee if he wins in November, has conspicuously dialed back his public criticism of crypto during his campaign.
In an interview in Ohio with the Times last month, Brown argued that he had not been “outspoken against crypto” in the 2024 election. He said that he believed no industry should be able to write its own regulations.
“I’ve not moderated,” he said. “I’m simply saying that crypto has a part, a role, in our economy. They do. They likely will for a lot of years to come. I don’t have great interest in going beyond that for now.”
Responding to the news Monday, one of Brown’s top aides made no mention of his position on crypto.
“Of course the special interests are panicking,” said Patrick Eisenhauer, Brown’s campaign manager. “They know Sherrod will fight the rigged system they’re feasting on to stand up for working Ohioans.”
Some Republican operatives have grown impatient waiting for Fairshake to mobilize against Brown, believing the super PAC should have moved earlier.
The $30 million campaign will begin Tuesday and will include both ads and mail criticizing Brown.
Brown’s Republican opponent, Sen. Jon Husted, already enjoys a considerable financial advantage in the race. Even before the Fairshake money arrives, Republicans in the state are set to outspend Democrats by about $30 million on advertising, according to data from AdImpact, a media tracking firm.
Fairshake has spent more than $68 million promoting or attacking candidates in congressional primaries this cycle, with mixed results. It helped nominate one Republican for Senate in Alabama and a Democrat for the House in Maryland, and it defeated a Democratic House incumbent in Texas. It suffered a setback, though, in the Democratic primary for Senate in Illinois.
Fairshake also watched last week as some of the Democrats it had supported in 2024 helped torpedo the crypto bill. Every Senate Democrat voted against the legislation, including Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who were both backed by Fairshake two years ago. Several Republicans joined them, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents in November.
And now, some Fairshake donors no longer appear interested in bipartisanship.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of crypto company Ripple, which is a maxqjor donor to Fairshake, wrote on social platform X that “The politics of the democrats (the anti-crypto army) was elevated over good policy.”
Tyler Winklevoss, a crypto billionaire who has donated to Fairshake, wrote: “Not a single Democrat voted for Clarity. There’s a lesson in that.”
In recent weeks, some Republicans close to the industry have privately blamed their party for acceding to the desire of Senate Democrats for bipartisan negotiation, seeing it as a clever strategy meant to prevent Fairshake from spending for as long as possible.
In a meeting about the bill, the Times reported in February, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, warned Democratic lawmakers of the risk of crossing Fairshake.
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