Crypto PACs Blew $170 Million on Midterms and Lost Nearly Everywhere

Crypto political action committees spent more than $170 million on the 2026 midterms and watched most of their high-profile picks lose on election night. The sector's network — Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress — deployed the bulk of a roughly $260 million war chest, according to Tech Influence Watch, an independent public-interest tracker curated by software engineer and tech writer Molly White. Democrats swept the competitive races that mattered, upending what had looked like a reliable formula for converting money into political power.

How did the Fairshake network split its money?

Across Fairshake and its two affiliates, spending to support Republicans totaled roughly $75 million, compared with about $30 million for Democrats. The network also spent roughly $36 million opposing Democratic candidates, including in party primaries, Tech Influence Watch found.

The bulk went into competitive races where preferred candidates faced uphill battles — and lost.

Where did the biggest bets fail?

Ohio was the costliest defeat. Crypto PACs spent more than $40 million supporting incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted and another $24 million opposing his Democratic challenger, longtime crypto critic Sherrod Brown. Brown won anyway, a bitter reversal for the PACs, which in 2024 spent heavily to help Republican Bernie Moreno unseat him.

The pattern repeated nationwide:

• Wisconsin: Nearly $2 million backed Republican incumbent Bryan Steil, chair of the House Financial Services digital assets subcommittee, and opposed Democrat Mitchell Berman. Berman unseated him.
• Texas: $1.4 million supported Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton and opposed Democrat James Talarico. Talarico won.
• Michigan: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers despite roughly $810,000 in crypto spending for Rogers.
• Iowa: Democrat Josh Turek beat Republican Ashley Hinson despite $700,000 from the Winklevosses' pro-crypto Digital Freedom Fund.

Illinois added a reminder of an earlier failed bet. Democrat Juliana Stratton won her Senate seat Tuesday after surviving roughly $10 million in crypto PAC spending aimed at defeating her in the March primary.

What does this mean for crypto's Washington agenda?

Tuesday's results took a bite out of the PACs' 2024 record, when their spending helped elect congressional allies from both parties and defeat prominent industry critics. The industry was already nursing a Washington setback: the Senate blocked the Clarity Act in September, leaving its push for a digital-assets regulatory framework unfinished.

Not all of the spending went to waste, though. In Nebraska, the Fairshake network spent over $13 million opposing independent Dan Osborn, helping Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts fend off an unexpectedly strong challenge and preserving an industry ally on the Senate Banking Committee. In Kentucky, Republican Andy Barr won the Senate seat held by retiring Mitch McConnell after crypto PACs put nearly $8 million behind him in the Republican primary.

Those two wins aside, the industry now faces a Congress with fewer allies than the $170 million was supposed to buy — and a regulatory agenda still stuck where September left it.