Summary

  • Crypto industry super PAC Fairshake spent $56 million to try to unseat Sherrod Brown, but failed to prevent him from winning his Senate race.
  • Mark Hays said the result marked a sweeping defeat for the crypto industry’s broader political strategy and showed that voters were taking a critical view of the tech sector’s political and social actions.
  • Ripple said it would continue investing in political engagement through super PACs, while Fairshake said it has $56 million set aside for the 2028 election cycle and that 2028 would be a new ballgame.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Crypto industry super PAC Fairshake spent $56 million trying to defeat Democrat Sherrod Brown, but failed to stop his election victory. The loss in a race that drew more than a third of the group’s ad spending this year has fueled debate over its spending strategy.

CoinDesk reported on Nov. 4 that Brown won his Senate race by about 5 percentage points. Fairshake’s spending against Brown accounted for 36% of its roughly $154 million in election advertising this year.

Brown has long clashed with the crypto industry. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he opposed stablecoin legislation. Ron Hammond, Wintermute’s head of policy and government relations, said Brown had taken a hostile stance toward crypto and that Fairshake was justified in targeting him.

Mark Hays, who oversees crypto policy at financial reform advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform, took the opposite view. He said the result amounted to a sweeping defeat for the crypto industry’s broader political strategy and showed voters were critical of the tech sector’s political and social actions.

Not every candidate backed by Fairshake lost. Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, who received $11 million in support, won re-election. Barry Moore, Christian Menefee and Andy Barr also won their general election races. Still, Representatives Bryan Steil and Bill Huizenga, who had led crypto-friendly legislation, were defeated.

Among Fairshake’s major backers, Ripple said it would continue funding political engagement through super PACs. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, wrote on X that some media outlets would call the result a setback for crypto, but the reality was far more complex. Ripple, he added, would keep investing in political engagement through super PACs.

Fairshake said it has $56 million on hand for the 2028 election cycle. In a statement, the group said it would keep watching and that 2028 would be a new ballgame.

YM Lee