Illinois | Crypto

Ties to the crypto industry became a vector for attack in a recent Democratic primary election in the state of Illinois. Not all voters are sold on crypto, and in Illinois, the crypto industry lobby failed to secure a victory, despite spending millions.  On Tuesday, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton won a primary election for a rare open US Senate seat in her state. She is expected to win in the general election and take the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. In the primary, she won over two other candidates, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, who currently represents Illinois’ 8th Congressional district, and Representative Robin Kelly from Illinois’ 2nd.      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...

LevelField could become the first crypto-friendly FDIC-insured bank to offer crypto services after receiving approval from the Illinois financial regulator to acquire Burling Bank. Digital asset-focused fintech firm LevelField Financial said it has secured conditional regulatory approval to acquire Chicago-based Burling Bank, marking one of the most notable crypto-banking acquisitions in recent months. The move could see LevelField become the first Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured chartered bank to offer certain crypto-integrated banking services across all US states and territories, LevelField said in a statement on Monday. Details of the deal weren’t disclosed. The approval from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation puts Burling Bank one step closer to being renamed LevelField Bank. The parties are still awaiting approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company. Read more

The sustainability-focused platform uses Avalanche to tokenize municipal loans, giving DeFi investors direct exposure to government-backed renewable energy infrastructure. Projective Finance, a sustainability-focused real-world asset (RWA) financing platform, has launched a $7 million lending pool for Illinois public schools, giving decentralized finance (DeFi) investors direct access to municipal infrastructure projects in the United States. The lending pool will fund solar energy installations across school districts in the state of Illinois, with infrastructure loans executed entirely onchain, Projective Finance said. By leveraging blockchain technology, “What traditionally required multiple intermediaries, fund structures, and minimum investments in the tens of millions can now be accessed directly with full transparency,” said Josh Chinnaswamy, Projective Finance’s co-founder.  Read more