Adding Massachusetts incumbent Auchincloss to the list of winning primary candidates Fairshake supported, the industry’s influence moves on to November.
- The U.S. primary elections are winding down as the November general election approaches, and crypto’s super PACs have chalked up a lot of wins, including support of incumbent Jake Auchincloss in Massachusetts this week.
- Fairshake remains the campaign-finance giant for the industry, and it boasts more than $122 million ready for action.
The crypto industry’s leading campaign fund got behind a shoe-in Democrat in the Massachusetts primaries to largely close out its primary efforts as the November general election approaches to decide the fate of the U.S. Congress.
The Fairshake political action committee modestly backed U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Democratic incumbent who dominated in Tuesday night’s vote count, adding to about 50 winners the super PAC devoted support to.
Though it has a history of meticulously supporting candidates from both parties, the super PAC’s support in Republican races is most notably this year, having helped secure the Senate primary wins of Barry Moore in Alabama, Andy Barr in Kentucky, Kevin Hern in Oklahoma and Harriet Hageman in Wyoming (to replace retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis) — each of whom is expected to win their general elections and join the Senate as crypto advocates.
About 97% of betters on Polymarket expect Hern to win, about 96% bet that same result for Hageman, and about 99% think Moore will be victorious, with Kalshi wagering showing Barr close to 94%. Those potential incoming senators would join the chamber next year as it keeps tangling with major crypto legislation, especially if the Senate continues to fall short in getting the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act out the door later this month. Every addition to the Senate could be hugely consequential.
However, they’ll also likely be arriving to the Senate alongside Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a Democrat Fairshake spent more than $10 million trying to defeat in her primary, marking its biggest spending failure to date.
Fairshake and its affiliates — primarily funded by Coinbase, Ripple and a16z — also helped defend seven reliably pro-crypto lawmakers from primary challenges, plus backed a long list of new pro-crypto names from both parties that are expected to join Congress for the first time next year. Many of them are Democrats, which could be especially important if the House of Representatives swings toward a Democrat majority, as expected.
As with many of the contests in this year’s primaries, incumbent Auchincloss took heat from his opponent for crypto support. The lawmaker had been critical of the administration on its crypto ties, but he has often voted for crypto legislation (apart from last year’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act), leaving him with a luke-warm «C» grade from the Coinbase-backed industry advocacy group Stand With Crypto.
«With dozens of wins in House and Senate races across the country, and $122 million ready for the fall, we’re not slowing down heading into November,» Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter said in a recent statement.
The primaries aren’t quite concluded yet, with a handful of contests remaining in states including New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware and Louisiana. But the vast bulk of the preliminary party nominations are set for the general on November 3.
Though other crypto-tied super PACs made some noise earlier in the election season, the primary spending was easily eclipsed by Fairshake.
The Fellowship PAC, for instance, is an effort funded by Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital that once claimed $100 million would be spent, but only got about $11 million, mostly from Cantor. The super PAC was tied to Tether from its beginning, though a U.S. campaign operation can’t take foreign money. Instead, it’s funded by the financial firm that handles Tether’s U.S. reserves, and it’s managed by a Tether executive.
Fellowship supported a slate of mostly Republicans and three Democrats, including Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. Virtually all of its spending went to a fledgling political firm co-founded by Bo Hines, President Donald Trump’s former crypto adviser who now runs Tether’s U.S. operation.
It’s unclear whether Fellowship will make a second effort in the general elections.
Another super PAC, the Digital Freedom Fund, was backed by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, with $21 million from their Winklevoss Capital Fund, plus another $1 million from Kraken’s parent company, Payward. The brothers had indicated the fund would go toward conservative candidates supporting Trump’s crypto initiatives, but it hasn’t yet engaged in candidate support.
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Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer
Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
Why it matters:
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
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