Fairshake built its name defeating one senator. On Oct. 26, 2024, the industry's biggest super PAC helped end Sherrod Brown's three decades in Washington3. In 2026, Brown wants his old seat back. Fairshake wants to stop him again. His race carries $68 million of crypto money so far1. That is the single most expensive line inside a $176 million campaign spanning more than 100 other races.
This campaign calls itself bipartisan. One of its own targets this cycle is a Chicago Democrat. He voted to create a crypto rule, the exact kind the industry usually fights. His case shows what the phrase "both parties" actually buys, and what it leaves out.
The $176 Million Playbook, Built to Outlast One President
Crypto's political committees have spent $176 million across this year's midterms, Reuters reported Oct. 27, 20261. Fairshake and its allied groups supplied $150.8 million of that total through Oct. 20. Other crypto groups added roughly $25 million more on their own. Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz fund most of the network between them. Marc Andreessen co-founded that last firm. Fairshake entered September holding $120 million in cash, ready to spend through Election Day, Nov. 33. The sum rivals what entire presidential campaigns once raised.
Stand With Crypto tracks the same effort from the advocacy side. The group now counts 332 members of Congress with an "A" rating on crypto issues, up from 96 when it launched1. That growth traces straight back to the spending. Fairshake's money bought meetings, and meetings built the voting record Stand With Crypto now grades.
Fairshake's 2024 cycle cost $196 million in total, more than the entire industry has spent this year3. Beating Brown that year took about $40 million on its own. The rematch already carries $68 million, nearly double the price of the first fight. Brown chaired the Senate Banking Committee before he lost that race1. The industry wanted that gavel gone more than any other seat in Congress.
Crypto spending on Ohio's Senate race hit $68 million in 2026, up from $40 million in 2024
Crypto-backed spending tied to Ohio's Senate race, by election cycle, in millions of US dollars
- 2024 cycle
- 2026 cycle, so far
Sources: Reuters [1]; Decrypt [3].
Read the chart as a table
| Item | 2024 cycle | 2026 cycle, so far |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio Senate race | $40M | $68M |
The industry treats that money as a hedge. Its open window stays open only so long. Geoff Vetter, Fairshake's spokesman, named the goal plainly. "We back pro-crypto candidates who support American innovation in both parties," Vetter said1. Colin McLaren leads government relations at the Solana Policy Institute. He named the longer horizon behind that same goal. “It's an investment in the future, to ensure that over the next 100 years, the crypto industry has clear rules of the road,” McLaren said.
That horizon leaves out Donald Trump himself. His family's crypto ventures earned about $2.3 billion between mid-2024 and this April1. That windfall is unlikely to repeat for whoever follows him into office. Fairshake's bet runs the other way from that fact. A bipartisan bench of allies, seated now, keeps paying off once Trump's own advantage for the industry runs out. Kristin Smith leads the Blockchain Association for now. She described how exposed the industry felt before it built that bench. “It was an all-out assault on the technology. The industry was in a corner,” Smith said. She meant the years of pressure the industry faced before now.
A Chicago Democrat Pays for a Vote on Crypto Rules
La Shawn Ford backed Illinois Senate Bill 1797 as a state representative. The bill became law in August 2025, telling crypto exchanges to register with Illinois's financial regulator or face a fine4. That is the same kind of state rule the industry fights nationwide through the CLARITY Act. Ford then entered the race for Congress in Illinois's 7th District, the seat retiring Rep. Danny Davis held for decades. Fairshake spent $2.5 million against him in that Democratic primary2.
The ads brought back a 2012 federal case that had charged Ford with bank fraud. Prosecutors dropped all 17 felony counts in 2014, after the original prosecutor left office4. Ford pleaded guilty to one minor tax charge instead. He had overstated rehab costs by $23,000, which cost the IRS $3,782 in lost revenue. A judge fined him $1,000 and gave him probation. Ford answered the ads at a press conference on Feb. 24, 2026. “I am not a felon. I am a state legislator, I am a real estate broker, I am licensed to be a teacher,” he said.
Thirteen Democrats ran in that primary, and Ford beat them all. His own campaign took a $175,000 loan from him, to answer ads that outspent him many times over. Ford named the real cost months later, once the industry's full midterm tally made news. “It was personal and it was hurtful, and unnecessary for my family,” Ford said1.
The Industry Defends Its Pattern as Reward
Fairshake's defense rests on its spread across party lines. The group backs 32 House incumbents this cycle, 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats, each tied to a vote for the CLARITY Act3. Patrick Eisenhauer manages Brown's campaign. He read the spending in Ohio as proof of fear rather than principle. “The special interests are panicking, they know Sherrod will fight the rigged system,” Eisenhauer said1.
Fairshake supplied $150.8 million of crypto's $176 million total through Oct. 20, 2026
Crypto's 2026 midterm spending through Oct. 20, 2026, split by source, in millions of US dollars
- Fairshake, allies: $150.8M
- Other groups: $25.0M
Source: Reuters [1].
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Fairshake, allies | $150.8M |
| Other groups | $25.0M |
Ford's district sat apart from Brown's fight entirely. He ran in a safely Democratic Chicago seat, against other Democrats, in a dispute that put zero Republicans on either side4. Fairshake says its job is simple: reward allies who back "American innovation." That story skips one fact that gets in its way. An ally of the industry's broader goals still drew $2.5 million in attack ads, over one state vote Fairshake's backers opposed.
The spending reaches past marquee Senate races into small local primaries too. Fairshake committed $5.3 million to Maryland House candidate Adrian Boafo, who raised $1.9 million of his own1. Quincy Bareebe ran against Boafo in that same primary and felt the mismatch firsthand. "There were so many ads … that it makes other candidates suffocate," Bareebe said. A budget built for Senate-scale fights can swamp a House primary several times over.
What Would Make Each Side Right
Vetter's case holds up if Fairshake's Democratic support keeps pace with its Republican spending once Brown's race ends. A bench that thins to one party after November would read as cover for that party alone. Ford's case holds up if the industry keeps targeting state and local lawmakers over regulatory votes, regardless of party or district. A second Ford-style campaign against a Republican would settle which pattern the money actually follows.
Both readings share one fact every side accepts. The industry wants the CLARITY Act passed, with federal rules to beat a patchwork of state laws like the one Ford backed3. Watch Fairshake's next round of ads, once Brown's race stops absorbing most of the attention. The ads will show which version of "both parties" the group actually practices.
By the numbers
- Crypto's political committees spent $176 million across more than 100 midterm races this cycle1.
- Fairshake and its affiliates supplied $150.8 million of that total through Oct. 20, 20261.
- Other crypto-backed groups added about $25 million more1.
- The Ohio Senate race between Brown and Jon Husted carries $68 million in crypto spending1.
- Fairshake's Defend American Jobs has spent $46.66 million opposing Brown alone3.
- The group entered September with $120 million in cash still unspent3.
- Its backing covers 32 House incumbents this cycle, 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats3.
- The Trump family's crypto ventures earned about $2.3 billion between mid-2024 and April 20261.
What to watch
Watch whether Fairshake opens a second attack this cycle on a Republican who crosses the industry on a regulatory vote. That would test its both-parties defense directly. Ford's general election margin is worth watching too. The result will show whether $2.5 million in ads about a dropped indictment moved many voters at all. Brown and Husted's Nov. 3 result will show whether $68 million bought the industry its most expensive seat back.
Sources
- Dawn Kopecki, "Crypto blitzes midterms with $176 million to support allies as it prepares for post-Trump era," Reuters, Oct. 27, 2026, https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/crypto-blitzes-midterms-with-176-million-to-support-allies-as-it-prepares-for-posttrump-era-4974725
- "Crypto election spending hits $176M as Fairshake targets US midterms," crypto.news, Oct. 27, 2026, https://crypto.news/crypto-industry-176-million-us-midterm-elections/
- "Crypto Super PAC Fairshake Pours Millions More Into Defeating Sherrod Brown," Decrypt, Oct. 17, 2026, https://decrypt.co/381238/crypto-super-pac-fairshake-pours-millions-more-into-defeating-sherrod-brown
- "Defiant Ford responds to misleading crypto PAC attack ads," Wednesday Journal (Oak Park), Feb. 24, 2026, https://www.oakpark.com/2026/02/24/defiant-ford-responds-to-misleading-crypto-pac-attack-ads/