One of the biggest stories of the 2024 election is the crypto sector’s historic foray into campaign finance. The Fairshake super PAC network has raised at least $169 million over the course of this cycle.
That’s an eye-watering and historic sum by any measure. The portion of money spent by just two companies — Coinbase and Ripple Labs — accounts for nearly half of all the corporate spending in the 2024 election.
But raising the money and spending it are different propositions. A look at Fairshake’s actual spending to date, plus a general election that’s just weeks away, suggests that crypto advocates are sitting on a stockpile that won’t be spent by November.
Of that $169 million total, Fairshake reported in its most recent filings that it still had $102 million in cash on hand. Since then, Fairshake has announced approximately $18 million in new spending commitments in Ohio, Michigan and Arizona.
That means Fairshake has only spent about 40% of its campaign coffers to date. That remaining 60% will matter even if the funds remain on the sideline. That much campaign cash will make vulnerable lawmakers anywhere think twice about criticizing the digital asset sector.
Is that a problem for, say, democracy? Not so, says Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), an industry ally who told us the sector’s maturation, technological promise and embrace by younger voters has propelled crypto’s political fortunes.
“The shift has been generational. A lot of voters have bitcoin as a store of value, a modern gold. They’re in many swing states; they’re highly organized,” Khanna said. “My sense is it’s more to do with the adoption of it by a lot of the next generation.”
But Khanna couldn’t discount the campaign finance angle entirely. “Obviously, their political advocacy has also been a factor,” the California Democrat said. “But I think the bigger factor is the large numbers who use it and are outspoken about it.”
Fairshake’s recent expenditures may be the most significant of the general election. The lion’s share of that $18 million spend is headed to Ohio to support Republican senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is lagging behind Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
Fairshake announced last month they’d reserved $12 million in TV ad time for Moreno in an effort to unseat Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee and has been plenty skeptical of the industry. Here’s the latest example of the ads Fairshake’s affiliate, Defend American Jobs, is running for Moreno:
In Arizona and Michigan, Fairshake is backing Democratic candidates for Senate — albeit with much smaller tranches of spending. Reps. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) wil be boosted by $3 million in TV ads each. Those ads are being paid for by Fairshake affiliate Protect Progress. Watch a Gallego spot here and a Slotkin spot here.
