One day in February, the pro-cryptocurrency super PAC Protect Progress spent $1.5 million to support a Democrat in Texas. The very next day, another crypto-friendly super PAC – Fairshake – spent the same amount to oppose a Democrat in Illinois.
Those super PACs share a treasurer and list the same UPS Store in Saint Paul, Minn., as their headquarters.
At first glance, political spending by the industry may appear to be split along ideological lines. But a closer look shows a centralized, coordinated operation that moves money at a scale rivaling the biggest players in American politics. According to federal filings, they share more than a mailbox: Fairshake has transferred tens of millions of dollars directly to the other super PACs.
“This has never been grassroots,” Hilary Allen, an American University law professor who researches financial technology, told OpenSecrets.
Fairshake, Protect Progress and a third crypto-backed super PAC – Defend American Jobs – together have accounted for more than $57 million in independent expenditures this cycle through May. With a collective $136 million in cash on hand – nearly $126 million of it sitting with Fairshake, a war chest second only to the Senate Leadership Fund – the trio is positioned to surpass the $133 million they poured into the 2024 election.
“It’s worth treating the three super PACs as essentially one organization,” Molly White, a crypto researcher who publishes the Citation Needed newsletter covering the industry, told OpenSecrets.
The industry’s multi-front campaign isn’t limited to congressional primaries. It reaches all the way to the top: The parent company of major crypto exchange Crypto.com – Foris Dax Inc. – is the largest donor to MAGA Inc., the main super PAC supporting President Donald Trump. Foris Dax contributed $35 million between Feb. 14, 2025, and Jan. 23, 2026.
“People are not aware that crypto has become one of the biggest spenders in campaign finance,” White said.
That support comes as Trump has embraced the cryptocurrency industry, expressing a desire to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world” and backing pro-crypto policies throughout his second term. He reported more than $1.4 billion in income in 2025 from crypto-related ventures, according to his June 29 financial disclosures, placing him atop the list of U.S. crypto earners.
It also comes at a critical time for the industry’s top legislative priority – a bill to establish a legal framework. Crypto exchange heavyweights Coinbase and Foris Dax are among the groups that have heavily lobbied the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would set up a framework to regulate crypto. The Senate – which returned from recess July 14 – could consider it during the week of July 20, The Hill reported.
While media outlets have extensively covered Trump’s crypto profits, Allen’s concerns go far beyond Trump’s bank account.
“Basically, Trump is presiding over lawmaking and administrative changes that directly financially benefit his family,” Allen said. “That would be problematic enough, but it’s not just a giveaway to those individuals. It’s a broad deregulation of our financial system, making it more fragile, and if that collapses, everyone will be impacted.”
Super PACs’ spending strategy: ‘We’ll beat you down’
Two of the crypto super PACs are responsible for the four largest independent expenditures this cycle.
- Fairshake spent $4.8 million on Feb. 25 and $4 million on March 4 on ads opposing Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton weeks before her victory in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
- Defend American Jobs spent $3.6 million both on May 4 and again four days later to support Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) weeks before his primary. Barr in 2025 introduced a bill currently in committee that would codify a Trump executive order and protect crypto firms from being dropped by traditional banks.
Fairshake – the top spender among super PACs at $74 million through May 31 – also spent more than $3 million against Chicago-area Democrats seeking to represent Illinois in the House: $2.5 million against La Shawn Ford, and more than $800,000 to oppose Robert Peters.
Fairshake’s spending reflects what White called a “signature strategy” of opposing those they label as “threats to the industry.” One example: former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.). Fairshake spent $10 million to oppose her 2024 Senate bid.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that the people they pick have a strong stance on crypto,” White added. “It’s just people that they think might take a strong stance or could even be painted as enemies of crypto.”
Their point, she said, revolves around “sending a message to other candidates that, if you take a strong stance here, we are going to do the same thing to you – we’ll show up with our $1 million and dump it into your race, even if your race does not normally draw that kind of money.”
“And we’ll beat you down,” White added. “We’ll overpower you.”
But in what resembles a round of good cop, bad cop, the other super PACs will spend huge sums to support candidates from both parties.
The pro-Barr spending by Defend American Jobs is a prime example of this. That super PAC also reported $9.4 million in outside spending to support Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) – an amount more than triple what his campaign raised on its own. And Protect Progress spent $6.5 million to support Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas) across 28 expenditures between Feb. 12 and May 22. That total is $3 million more than his campaign has raised this cycle.
“They use that as sort of a carrot on a stick to draw people who might be willing to take a more friendly stance to the industry,” White said. “And who might be in need of a couple million dollars in campaign funds to support their campaigns.”
Most funds originate from exchange platforms and a venture capital firm
The primary funding engine for the crypto super PAC trio is Fairshake, FEC filings indicate.
Of Fairshake’s $135 million in receipts since January 2025, more than $81 million came from two major crypto exchange platforms: Ripple Labs contributed $48 million across two payments, while Coinbase donated $33 million in four installments. Another $47 million came from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and its founders – the firm gave $23.8 million, and Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each added $11.9 million.
The bulk of Fairshake’s massive spending total went toward bankrolling the other two super PACs. Conversely, independent expenditures accounted for only $13 million of that – less than both of the super PACs it funded. Protect Progress has spent $18.9 million and Defend American Jobs spent $25.2 million.
Between January 2025 and May 2026, Fairshake transferred $28 million to Defend American Jobs and $23 million to Protect Progress – the group with whom it shares a treasurer and a UPS Store. Each entity most recently received $3 million on May 28. OpenSecrets reached out to treasurer Brandon Philipczyk but did not immediately receive a response.
Meanwhile, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress received identical sets of itemized individual contributions. Each brought in $250,000 from Ripple Labs on Jan. 21, 2025; $50,000 apiece from Horowitz and Andreessen; and $100,000 from the firm – all on Dec. 10, 2025.
Andreessen, Horowitz and their firm have emerged as the biggest donors of the midterms, contributing roughly $115 million. Individually, the two businessmen and their wives combined for more than $90 million in itemized individual contributions this cycle, with the Horowitzes giving more than $45.5 million and the Andreessens donating $44.7 million. Beyond the crypto ecosystem, they each gave $25 million to Leading the Future, a pro-artificial intelligence super PAC. The pair’s firm has contributed another $24.3 million, almost all of it to crypto super PACs.
“Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase are really driving the bus on all of this,” Allen said.
Industry’s top priority: The Clarity Act
The spending leads to the pivotal question: What do Andreessen Horowitz and the super PACs they bankroll want?
“I think a lot of the congressional spending is going towards installing strong advocates for crypto in Congress across both parties,” White said “They understand that they can’t just get every Republican to support the bill and have it passed. They need some allies in the Democratic wing as well.”
Both White and Allen pointed to the Clarity Act, which would set regulatory guidelines for cryptocurrency and help legitimize it. Experts have said its passage could be a “catalyst” that drives up the value of cryptocurrencies.
“Broadly speaking, the crypto industry is upset that the Clarity Act has not passed yet,” White said.
The bill would codify a regulatory framework that sorts tokens into three groups. Digital commodities would be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, fundraising tokens would be overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission and oversight of payment stablecoins would fall to banking regulators. Critics say it would create both loopholes that could threaten financial safety and conflicts of interest because it lacks restrictions for lawmakers writing industry-related policy while holding or trading digital assets.
“I think there’s a perception across the crypto industry that they’ve secured a lot of regulatory wins through the change in leadership at the SEC, the CFTC, which has resulted in a very major change to the approach from both of those agencies towards the crypto industry,” White said.
“But they see those as very fragile wins. There’s been a lot of talk recently about, ‘How do we lock in these wins? How do we prevent a future Congress or a future presidency from rolling these back … and doing a 180 again and going back towards more aggressive regulatory enforcement?” she continued. “So I think that’s one of the major goals going into 2026 and beyond – passing more robust legislation that would actually make these things a little more challenging to undo.”
Those stakes extend far beyond crypto investors. During Trump’s second term, federal agencies have taken steps that bring crypto closer to the heart of the financial system, from an executive order encouraging crypto exposure in 401(k) plans to a Department of Labor proposal that would allow it. Fannie Mae in March began accepting crypto-backed mortgages, and banks were cleared to take on crypto exposure in ways they couldn’t during Joe Biden’s presidency.
“With the Trump administration giving the crypto industry everything it’s wanted, we are now in a position where the crypto industry is becoming increasingly integrated with the financial system,” Allen said. “Even if you never touch crypto, you will be impacted by it.”
Republish this article
We encourage you to republish our content. Please review our republication policy for guidelines.
Support Accountability Journalism
At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2022 midterm fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust.