Crypto-backed | Crypto

The $189,000 in media spending to support Representative Jake Auchincloss marked Fairshake’s latest attempt to influence the 2026 elections with funds from the crypto industry. An affiliate of the political action committee (PAC) Fairshake, which was responsible for pouring more than $130 million in ads and media in the 2024 election cycle, is supporting at least one candidate in Tuesday’s primary in Massachusetts. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records as of Tuesday, the Protect Progress PAC, a Fairshake affiliate, spent just over $189,000 on media to support Representative Jake Auchincloss running for reelection in Massachusetts’ 4th congressional district. Some of the funds, according to Democratic candidate Jason Poulos, were used to create “AI-generated slop mailers” supporting Auchincloss ahead of the Massachusetts primary, scheduled for Tuesday. In an Aug. 16 letter, Poulos called on the Democratic lawmaker to “publicly renounce” Protect Progress’ efforts to potentially influence the pr...

Crypto PACs threw serious money behind a handful of Texas runoffs, helping oust a senior Democrat and boost Republican hopefuls as lawmakers hammer out new US crypto rules. [Clarification (17:49 UTC 5/27/2026) In the fourth paragraph, both Alex Mealer and Jon Bonck were the winners in their respective Republican runoffs.] Crypto-backed political groups supported several winning candidates in Texas primary runoffs Tuesday, highlighting the digital asset industry’s growing role in US elections as Congress debates new rules for crypto markets. Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican US Senate runoff against four-term Senator John Cornyn by a wide margin, according to Texas primary runoff results, and will face Democratic state Representative James Talarico in November. Read more

The political action committee Fairshake continues to report spending on political candidates from its $193 million war chest, largely funded by crypto interest groups. Fairshake, the political action committee backed by crypto companies Ripple Labs and Coinbase, among others, has reported additional spending on Illinois congressional races with the US midterm elections less than eight months away. In filings on Sunday with the Federal Election Commission, Fairshake reported a $16,000 media buy to oppose Illinois state representative La Shawn Ford in his run for the US Congress in 2026, adding to its roughly $1.8 million spent in 2026 on the race. The state is set to hold primary elections on March 17. The filing followed others from Friday, showing that the PAC spent more than $5.5 million to oppose Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, who is running as a Democrat for the US Senate in the midterm elections. Protect Progress, a Fairshake associated group supporting Democratic candidates, reported ab...