Cryptocurrency is no longer just lobbying Washington - it is buying it. Fairshake, the top super PAC in the industry, ended 2025 with<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/28/crypto-coinbase-fairshake-pac" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/28/crypto-coinbase-fairshake-pac" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$193 million in cash</a> - over $60 million more than it spent in the entire 2024 election season when it fully funded the most high-profile issue PAC in the country.<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/coinbase-invests-25m-2026-midterm-elections-commitment-pro-crypto-super-pac" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/coinbase-invests-25m-2026-midterm-elections-commitment-pro-crypto-super-pac" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coinbase invested a total</a> of $75 million across two rounds; $50 million by<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/29/ripple-donates-another-25m-to-crypto-super-pac-fairshake" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/29/ripple-donates-another-25m-to-crypto-super-pac-fairshake" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ripple</a>; and<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/04/coinbase-a16z-contribute-78-million-to-pro-crypto-pac-for-2026-election.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/04/coinbase-a16z-contribute-78-million-to-pro-crypto-pac-for-2026-election.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$70 million by</a> Andreessen Horowitz. The Winklevoss twins created a separate<a href="https://www.notus.org/money/winklevoss-twins-tyler-cameron-republican-super-pac-trump-cryptocurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.notus.org/money/winklevoss-twins-tyler-cameron-republican-super-pac-trump-cryptocurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$21 million fund</a> that would support federal Republican candidates only. This kind of advocacy does not happen through grassroots efforts. This industry observed the case of Sherrod Brown and concluded that the best regulatory model for their industry would be to have all of the individuals who draft crypto regulation bear the same accountability to cryptocurrency as they do when contributing to campaigns through cryptocurrency. And it has happened. The candidates supported by Fairshake<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/26/crypto-pac-house-senate-elections.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/26/crypto-pac-house-senate-elections.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">won 36 out of 42</a> of their primaries in 2024. Sherrod Brown was outspent and subsequently removed because he opposed every single piece of cryptocurrency legislation that came before him as the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. According to the Stand With Crypto Alliance, there are<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/23/how-tech-bros-bought-americas-most-pro-crypto-congress-ever.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/23/how-tech-bros-bought-americas-most-pro-crypto-congress-ever.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nearly 300 pro-crypto</a> lawmakers in the House and Senate. The GENIUS Act was passed. The SEC received confirmation of industry-friendly regulators. We have a playbook. The question is, "Does the playbook still work? <h2>The Money Machine and Who Feeds It</h2> The Donor List Aligns Pretty Closely to Federal Regulatory Harassment(s): SEC Sued/Census Business(s) Investigated or Under Threat from the Federal Government. Coinbase has provided Fairshake with $100+ million over multiple cycles, which is the largest donation but is also due to the lawsuit filed by the SEC for selling unregistered securities. Ripple provided $50 million after being sued by the SEC for nearly two years. Other donors include Robert Leshner from Superstate; Jump Crypto; and Uniswap Labs. The donations are not based on civic duty, they are the premiums on insurance from unfriendly regulation. Fairshake is composed of 3 different groups - the primary committee (Defend American Jobs) is primarily Republican; Protect Progress is primarily Democratic; and a bi-partisan committee composed of the two. The way this is set up is important for one key reason. There is no mention of cryptocurrency in most of Fairshake's advertisements. They are functioning like typical political attack advertisements regarding things like healthcare jobs and cost of living; however, the ONLY source of funding for Fairshake is coming from a sector that is currently attempting to establish their own regulations. Lawmakers are aware of who is funding these attack advertisements; voters are not. The main purpose of this article is to highlight how the regulatory process is working against the interests of voters by bringing together Funders (those providing and leading donation campaigns) with Lawmakers (those receiving the money). <h2>The CLARITY Act Problem</h2> The simple victory was the GENIUS Act. Treasury Secretary Bessent personally promoted stablecoins as a means of financing public debt, and they enjoyed bipartisan support and a compelling use case for dollar dominance. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a market structure measure that is meant to ultimately determine whether crypto assets are subject to CFTC or SEC regulation, is the challenging portion. The bill is not moving forward. <a href="https://fortune.com/2026/01/21/coinbase-andreessen-horowitz-clarity-act-senate-banking-agriculture-bill-draft-crypto/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brian Armstrong, CEO</a> of Coinbase, withdrew the company's endorsement of the Senate version, citing "fatal flaws" in the late amendments. The banking sector is battling to prevent non-banks from providing yield rewards for stablecoins. Democrats want ethical laws that forbid the president and other high-ranking government officials from making money off of cryptocurrency. On that one, the White House resisted. In a statement to the Senate Banking Committee, Bessent suggested that cryptocurrency firms opposing the law "move to El Salvador." In late January, the first committee vote on the measure was held. The finish line is far away. And it might never pass it if Democrats win the House in November. <h2>Why the Midterm Math Scares Crypto</h2> Democrats have a 79% likelihood of gaining a majority in the House, according to<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/28/crypto-s-political-power-supercharged-with-usd193-million-in-fairshake-thanks-to-new-cash" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/28/crypto-s-political-power-supercharged-with-usd193-million-in-fairshake-thanks-to-new-cash" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Polymarket</a>. Democrats have a 36% chance of winning the Senate, but they only need one chamber to dominate committee leadership, floor agendas, and legislative progress. There is voter weariness. The anti-incumbent mood that permeates early 2026 polls doesn't care that Republicans enacted a stablecoin measure because of the cost of living, housing, and bureaucratic bottlenecks. The fact that groceries are still pricey matters to it. Overnight, a Democratic House changes the legislative trajectory of cryptocurrency. Chairs of committees are replaced. The Clarity Act is altered, devalued, or overshadowed by more important battles. Provisions for consumer protection become more stringent. Exchange and DeFi supervision becomes more stringent. Although Fairshake's $193 million can help candidates win elections, it has no control over their actions once in power, particularly if political tides turn so drastically that being "pro-crypto" turns into a liability rather than a talking point. <h2>The Trump Conflict Nobody Wants to Talk About</h2> The close ties between the Trump administration and the cryptocurrency business are a double-edged blade that is becoming more acute. The Trump family's growing cryptocurrency business interests, such as World Liberty Financial and the president's memecoin endeavors, are the focus of changes to the CLARITY Act that Democrats are attempting to pass. According to the Wall Street Journal, at the same time the administration consented to provide the UAE with American-manufactured AI processors, a royal from Abu Dhabi made an investment in World Liberty Financial. "Stop covering for the president — stop being his flunky," Rep. Gregory Meeks yelled at Bessent during the hearing on February 4. Committee rooms aren't where that kind of heat stays. The industry's bipartisan branding collapses if cryptocurrency is used as a stand-in for Trump malfeasance in Democratic messaging as November approaches. Democrats can get all the money they want from Fairshake. But if the party's base associates crypto with presidential self-dealing, those Democrats won't touch the money — or the legislation. Two years were spent by the sector cultivating bipartisan goodwill. It might be destroyed in a single election cycle by the Trump entanglements. <h2>What This Means for Crypto Markets</h2> Political risk is not being appropriately priced by the market. Bitcoin has already dropped 45% from its peak in October. There are outflows from spot ETFs. The demand from institutions has changed. In addition, depending on which party controls one chamber of Congress, the regulatory framework that cryptocurrency depends on may stall, change, or even collapse during a midterm cycle, and the risk profile may fluctuate. A hedge, not a guarantee, is what Fairshake's war chest represents. The PAC can spend a lot of money on races, but it cannot influence voter opinion, stop the CLARITY Act from being ruined in talks, or stop the Trump link from becoming sour. In 2024, the cryptocurrency sector discovered that investing $290 million in elections yields positive outcomes. It hasn't discovered whether those outcomes hold up during the subsequent power change. Furthermore, the important question is not whether cryptocurrency can purchase influence, given that $193 million has been loaded and the midterms are nine months away. It concerns whether influence acquired in one political environment is still valuable in another.

Crypto PACs are amassing record war chests for the 2026 midterms, but political tides, stalled regulation, and Trump entanglements threaten to turn influence buys into regulatory risk.

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